By Enyichukwu Enemanna
A Kenyan national arrested and detained “for false publication” on social media has passed away, the police say.
Albert Ojwang was arrested in the western town of Homa Bay and then driven 350km to the capital, Nairobi, his father Meshack Opiyo told journalists.
“While in custody, the suspect sustained head injuries after hitting his head against a cell wall,” a police statement said.
He was rushed to hospital “where he was pronounced dead on arrival”, the statement added.
The East African country’s independent police oversight body has launched an investigation to unravel the root cause of the death.
The rights group, Amnesty International in Kenya, says the death of Mr Ojwang, described in reports as a teacher and blogger, was “very suspicious”.
In a statement, Amnesty International says his death “raises serious questions that must be urgently, thoroughly, and independently investigated”.
The Star newspaper quoted a senior police officer, Stephen Okal, as claiming that what happened in the cell was “an attempted suicide”.
It is not clear what the charge of “false publication” referred to, but the deceased’s father told online news site Citizen Digital that the arresting police officer said “Albert had insulted a senior person on X”, the social media platform.
Referring to the circumstances of his arrest, Amnesty International Kenya director Irungu Houghton said it was “quite shocking” that Mr Ojwang was not booked in at the local police station after being detained, but was instead taken on a long journey.
He called on the independent investigators to secure what he described as “the crime scene” at the police station in Nairobi.
The police said that Mr Ojwang was “lawfully arrested”.
His detention and death come at a time of rising concern about how some government critics are being treated.
Last week, software developer Rose Njeri – who created a tool to help people oppose a government finance bill – was charged with violating a cybercrime law.
