Kenya: DPP Has 14 Days to Decide Fate of Blogger Cyprian Nyakundi's Extortion Case

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji has been given 14 days to decide the fate of blogger Cyprian Nyakundi.

Mr Nyakundi and three others are facing a Sh17.5 million extortion case involving Victoria Commercial Bank.

On Wednesday, Milimani Principal Magistrate Zainab Abdul said the DPP should have given directions in the case given that the trial has been quashed by the High Court.

Justice Antony Mrima had on March 11 declared unconstitutional the way the evidence in the matter was obtained.

"The DPP ought to have acted in compliance with the superior court decision which was pronounced six months ago," defence lawyer Dudly Ochiel told the magistrate on Wednesday.

Justice Mrima ruled that the DCI had entrapped the blogger by illegally obtaining evidence against him.

Criminal trial

He ruled that the evidence was not admissible and therefore the criminal trial should have been halted.

Owing to the High Court's ruling, the case against Mr Nyakundi and others has collapsed.

When they appeared before Ms Abdul, the suspects complained that they had been cleared by the High Court but that the DPP was reluctant to terminate the case.

Mr Nyakundi, through Mr Ochiel, said six months had lapsed and that the DPP had dragged his feet on the matter by failing to terminate the criminal charges against them.

However, seeking more time to get instructions from the DPP, a State prosecutor said an appeal had been lodged to challenge the High Court's decision.

In a brief ruling, Ms Abdul noted that the DPP was yet to advise the subordinate court on the way forward in light of the High Court decision.

She then gave the DPP up to September 15 to communicate his decision.

Last year, Mr Nyakundi and three others were charged with extorting Sh1 million from the CEO of Victoria Commercial Bank as a down payment for an earlier demanded amount of Sh17.5 million.

The accused allegedly demanded the money as a precondition for pulling down several libellous articles they posted on their blog between September 10, 2019 and January 15, 2020.