KENYA: JOURNALISTS QUESTIONED OVER ASSASSINATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L NAIROBI 001704

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/17/2027
TAGS: KDEM PGOV PHUM KE
SUBJECT: KENYA: JOURNALISTS QUESTIONED OVER ASSASSINATION
PLOT REPORT

REF: A. 06 NAIROBI 4902


B. 06 NAIROBI 2616

Classified By: Political Counselor Larry Andre for reasons 1.4 (b,d).


1. (SBU) Following Kenyan daily The Standard's report of an
alleged assassination plot against former President Moi's
son, four of the paper's managers were questioned by police
on April 16 at police headquarters. Human rights groups
rallied to support the newspaper, decrying the six-hour
questioning as a violation of media freedom. While in
custody, the men were not allowed access to their lawyers,
and were ultimately released without being charged. END
SUMMARY.


2. (U) Following the publication on April 16 in the Standard
of a report alleging an assassination plot against former
President Moi's son Gideon, four members of the paper's
management team were summoned for questioning by police. The
four, including the Managing Editor and the Chief Operating
Officer, were at police headquarters for six hours on April

16. In the meantime, opposition politicians and human rights
organizations gathered at the station decrying the incident
as an abuse of media freedom. The four managers of the
Standard newspaper, which is owned by former president Moi,
were released later that night without being charged.


3. (SBU) The article which sparked the April 16
interrogation reported that in a tape-recorded interview, one
of the infamous Artur brothers, Margaryan, stated he had been
contacted by a Kenyan minister. (NOTE: The Artur brothers
first appeared publicly in March 2006 amid allegations that
they had been brought to the country by high-level Kenyans as
mercenaries. They claimed to be businessmen, but were also
linked to the March 2006 government raid on the Standard.
END NOTE.) The minister wanted to hire the Arturs to kidnap
and assassinate Gideon Moi, also the member of parliament for
Baringo South (KANU). In response, Gideon Moi stated in
April 17 media reports that he was advised by Kenyan security
services last year to boost his personal security in light of
a possible threat.

Standard: "Government Intimidation"
--------------


4. (SBU) One of the men questioned, Standard Group Managing
Editor Chaacha Mwita told public affairs specialist that his
newspaper views the summoning and interrogation as a personal
war against the Standard, "orchestrated by a group of
personalities" led by Internal Security Minister John
Michuki. (NOTE: Michuki is the minister who boasted about
ordering the March 2006 raid on the Standard. Direction of
the Kenyan police services falls under his ministry. END
NOTE.) Mwita noted that he and his colleagues were
interrogated by the Serious Crimes Police Unit, and that he
does not expect any charges to be pressed.


5. (SBU) The conduct of the interrogation offended Mwita and
human rights organizations. Mwita commented that the
Standard journalists were called to police headquarters via a
statement faxed to all media outlets, rather than by a formal
summons. At the police station officers prohibited him from
speaking to the press. For the hours he and his colleagues
were at the station, they were barred from communicating with
their lawyers. Kenyan human rights groups called the
journalists' denial of counsel a serious affront to media
freedom. The Chairman of the Law Society of Kenya told
poloff he was concerned by the reemergence of a tactic
(interrogation without legal representation) used by past
Kenyan regimes.


6. (C) One of the Standard's lawyers who was locked out of
police headquarters on April 16, Otiende Amollo, told poloff
that there was no intention at all on the part of law
enforcement to gain more information about the alleged plot.
It was simply Michuki's attempt to get ahead of the
Standard's story and learn what information the newspaper
had. Amollo added that the journalists handed over copies of
the taped Standard interview with Artur Margaryan to police;
the interrogation was just harassment and intimidation at the
behest of an minister who acts with complete impunity. He
remarked that Michuki "is so tangled up in this whole
(Arturs) thing, he had to do it."

The Arturs Make Headlines, Again
--------------


7. (SBU) The Arturs were removed (not deported) from Kenya
after a security incident at the country's main airport in
June 2006 (ref A). Although there were allegations (from
Opposition leader Raila Odinga) that the men were back in
Kenya in November 2006 (ref B),it was never clear that this
was indeed the case. Odinga made similar claims last week,
which prompted the government to issue a statement denying
the allegations as "cheap propaganda." In its April 12
statement the government also lashed out at the media for
irresponsibly publishing graphics which depicted the Arturs
at State House. OnQ[Q}9QQ$he Standard's
story, Michuki called a press conference at which he read a
six-point statement. In his defense Michuki denied having
any more information about the Arturs than he had already
stated, and accused the Standard of a "vendetta" against him.


8. (SBU) COMMENT: The police could reasonably argue that
they questioned the Standard managers in the interest of
protecting Gideon Moi - they have an obligation to
investigate such serious allegations. They did not, however,
make that justification, and the manner in which the four
newspapermen were held, without access to legal
representation (customary, but not explicitly provided for in
the Kenyan constitution),smacks of punishing the messenger.
The government's past attempts to intimidate the Standard
proved effective only at raising public ire. The day after
the questioning, the Standard's taunt -- that it will
broadcast the entire taped interview with Artur, including as
yet unpublished explosive items -- suggests this incident
too, will not muzzle the newspaper. END COMMENT.
RANNEBERGER