Kenyan Lawyers Protest Alleged Police Killings of Colleague, Two Others

NAIROBI, KENYA—
Traffic stopped Wednesday in parts of Nairobi as hundreds of Kenyan lawyers, wearing purple ribbons, marched to protest the alleged police killings of a colleague and two other men.
The march, which brought demonstrators to the Supreme Court and police inspector general's office, was the second in Nairobi this week against the death of lawyer Willie Kimani; his client, Josephat Mwenda; and their taxi driver, Joseph Muiruri.

The three men’s bodies were found in a river about 70 kilometers from Nairobi last week, several days after police had taken the men into custody.

“We want to raise awareness that this is a no-go area. You cannot attack lawyers,” said Charles Kanjama, chairman of the Nairobi branch of the Law Society of Kenya, the group that organized the march. “If you attack lawyers, you are attacking all the citizens. You are attacking the country. It means you are saying that no one is safe.”
The three victims disappeared following a court appearance June 23, in which Kimani was defending Mwenda against what they said were trumped-up police charges following an April 2015 traffic stop. Police apparently shot Mwenda in the arm by accident during the stop, and the incident escalated into a series of additional encounters with police.
After the court appearance,  the attorney, his client and their driver were allegedly taken to a police administration compound. Their bodies were found just over a week later. The men had been beaten and strangled before they were killed, according to an autopsy.