The Law Society of Kenya has added its name to the increasing list of organizations that have denounced the police abuse journalists endured on Thursday. At the same time, they covered protests for the Azimio movement.
The act was described as "barbaric, unpleasant, and retrogressive" by President Eric Theuri, who also said Inspector General of Police Japhet Koome should bear responsibility.
"The media is being intimidated since it is evident that the media spotlight prevents the police from using excessive force on protesters. The IG police must accept accountability. He didn't fulfill his obligation, "Theuri remarked.
At least six journalists were hurt, according to the industry regulator Media Council of Kenya, in the attack at Kware in Pipeline, Embakasi South.
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According to MCK Chief Executive Officer David Omwoyo's message on Twitter, most of those attacked were photographers and camera operators.
A plainclothes police can be seen breaking the window of a media van in a video that has gone viral before firing a teargas canister into the vehicle.
Omwoyo described the incidents as illegal acts and acts of hooliganism with the intent to obliterate any video evidence of police activity.
In a radio interview with the BBC, MCK Director for Media Training and Development Victor Bwire stated that the Council would file a lawsuit against the National Police Service.
Assaults on journalists performing their duties by officers were not accidental, according to Bwire.
According to Omwoyo, since the beginning of the widespread protests on March 20, the Council has recorded 25 instances of police harassment, attacks, and arrests of local and foreign journalists.
Twenty incidents of violence, intimidation, and arrests against journalists were reported on Monday, March 27.
Victor Bwire, director of media training and development at MCK, reports that six journalists were admitted to the hospital on Thursday with severe bodily wounds.
He asserted that several journalists had their phones and other equipment stolen or vandalized, ostensibly with the intent to destroy any images that would have documented police atrocities during the protests.
He declared that because the attacks were planned, the Council would sue the National Police Service.