An Administration Police (AP) officer and an assistant chief were Thursday brought to the Meru High Court where they were charged with torturing to death a young man who was in their custody.
Antubariku Sub-Location Assistant Chief Kennedy Karuwa Bariu, and Mr Salesio Galgallo, the AP officer in-charge of Kiraone AP post, denied killing Mr Erick Mwenda when they were brought before Resident Judge Alfred Mabeya.
The court released them on a Sh500,000 bond each with surety or Sh300,000cash bail.
On Wednesday, the two lost a bid to stop the court from prosecuting them for the death the youngster which occurred on June 6, 2018.
They are accused of assaulting Mr Mwenda while in handcuffs in Antubariku village, Igembe South in Meru County and causing his death.
The two are said to have assaulted the young man after allegations that he had stolen Sh20,000.
Justice Mabeya, at the same time, ordered the prosecution to provide the suspects with all the civilian witness statements and phone data from Safaricom which would be used in the trial.
Defence lawyer Kiogora Mugambi had alleged that the prosecution was frustrating their access to the documents and had said they would only supply the details if there was a court order authorising the same.
The case will be heard on October 9, 2019.
Earlier, Justice Ann Ong’injo had dismissed an application by the two seeking to stop the State from prosecuting them for the death.
Through Mr Mugambi, the two had claimed that they were not at the scene of the crime when the man was killed.
Mr Bariu, in a written affidavit, said the family reported the murder incident to Maua Police Station through OB number 49/18/2018 in which they alleged that Mr Mwenda died of natural causes and mentioned him and the officer as persons of interest.
The suspects accused the IPOA of usurping the powers and roles of the DCI and DPP by undertaking investigations and preferring charges against them.
But Justice Ong’injo said the delay to arraign the suspects could not be attributed to the DPP.
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