\n<\/p>\n
Prominent Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi is due in court on accusations of “facilitation of terrorist acts” during last month’s deadly anti-government protests in which at least 19 people died.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, investigators said they had seized phones, a laptop, and notebooks from Mr Mwangi’s Lukenya home on the outskirts of the capital, Nairobi, and hard drives, computers, tear gas canisters and a blank firearm round <\/b>from his office in the city.<\/p>\n
His arrest has sparked a wave of condemnation, with human rights groups denouncing it was aimed at suppressing opposition voices.<\/p>\n
The activist has denied the accusations, saying in a post on X: “I am not a terrorist.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
According to the Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations, Mr Mwangi stands accused of “offences related to facilitation of terrorist acts and unlawful possession of ammunition”.<\/p>\n
The alleged offences are linked to the 25 June protests when, according to the state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR), 19 people died as demonstrators clashed with police. Hundreds were also injured and property and businesses were damaged.<\/p>\n
In the aftermath, Interior Minister Kipchumba Murkomen described the demonstrations as “terrorism disguised as dissent”<\/a> and an “unconstitutional attempt” to change the government.<\/p>\n At least 38 more people were killed in subsequent protests earlier this month, the KNHCR has said. <\/p>\n Since June last year, more than 100 people have been killed in successive waves of anti-government protests, with police accused of using excessive force to quell unrest.<\/p>\n On Sunday, a coalition of 37 rights organisations condemned Mr Mwangi’s arrest on “unjustified terrorism allegations”, describing it as the “latest escalation in a systematic crackdown that has seen hundreds of young Kenyans detained on fabricated terrorism charges”.<\/p>\n “What began as targeted persecution of young protesters demanding accountability has metastasized into a full-scale assault on Kenya’s democracy,” they said in a joint statement.<\/p>\n James Orengo, a veteran politician and governor of Siaya county, said it was “ridiculous to charge Boniface Mwangi and our children who have demonstrated a high level of political consciousness with terrorism”.<\/p>\n Mr Mwangi has been detained multiple times in the past, and has been at the centre of many protests. <\/p>\n