Former Mayor and Nairobi ODM chair George Aladwa whois seeking to stop his prosecution over inciting statements he made last year at a rally in Kibera stopped.
BY THOMAS KARIUKI.
Former Mayor and Nairobi ODM chair George Aladwa wants his prosecution over inciting statements he made last year at a rally in Kibera stopped.
The politician was captured on video saying people will have to die for Cord leader Raila Odinga to become president in 2017.
Aladwa now says his prosecution is unconstitutional.
He wants a criminal case pending before a lower court suspended pending the hearing and determination of the application he file at the High Court.
The application for judicial review filed by his lawyer John Khaminwa seeks to stop the Director of Public Prosecution Keriako Tobiko, the Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinett and the Director of Criminal Prosecution from continuing to prosecute him.
“I will not be afforded a fair hearing instead I shall be subjected to biased and partial prosecution saying that section (96 (a) of the Penal Code under which I am charged of the offense of incitement to violence is unconstitutional,” Aladwa stated in an affidavit.
He says that the section puts the burden of proof on him and this denies him the presumption of innocence until proven guilty as provided for in the Constitution.
Aladwa adds that the section denies him the right to remain silent and not to testify during trial.
The former mayor, who is a close ally of Odinga pointed out that he will be put to his defence even before it is proved that indeed he has a case to answer.
“He is apprehensive that due to the facts stated above, he will not be afforded a fair hearing,” his lawyer Khaminwa said.
Mr Khaminwa said that unless Aladwa’s trial is stopped, the politician stands to suffer irreversible loss and damage.
A similar application that also sought to stop his prosecution was rejected by the court in October 2015.
When he was arrested, his lawyers approached the court saying Aladwa’s prosecution was bad in law and incurably defective but Justice Joseph Onguto directed that he be charged and defend himself.
