Kenyan police officer arrested after daylong protests over a blogger's death

Kenyan police officer arrested after daylong protests over a blogger’s death in custody

1 of 5 |

A protester scuffles with a police officer during a protest over the death in police custody of blogger Albert Ojwang, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

2 of 5 |

A demonstrator is attended to after being injured during a protest over the death in police custody of blogger Albert Ojwang, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

3 of 5 |

A demonstrator walks away from tear gas after being injured during a protest over the death in police custody of blogger Albert Ojwang, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

4 of 5 |

Demonstrators protest over the death in police custody of blogger Albert Ojwang, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

5 of 5 |

Demonstrators protest over the death in police custody of blogger Albert Ojwang, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

By EVELYNE MUSAMBI

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A Kenyan police officer was arrested Thursday in connection with the death of a blogger in police custody that led to protests in the streets of the capital where two vehicles were burned and several protesters injured.

Protesters took to the streets of Nairobi and destroyed property of unknown value while calling for the resignation of a top police officer named in the case.

Albert Ojwang, who blogged about corruption on the social platform X, was arrested on June 6 in western Kenya and driven 400 kilometers (248 miles) to Nairobi for what police said was publishing “false information” about a top police official on social media. He died two days later at the Central Police Station after “hitting his head against the cell wall,” police said. Amnesty International and local activists have questioned that account.

A government pathologist has refuted the police’s account that the blogger’s injuries were self-inflicted, saying the deceased had “head injury, neck compression and other injuries spread all over the body that are pointing towards assault.”

The protesters on Thursday occupied the road in Nairobi leading to the parliamentary building, where the national budget was due to be presented.

Parse.ly - related stories

This image provided by United States District Court For The Eastern District Of Michigan shows toxic plant pathogens that a Chinese scientist entered the U.S. last year stashed in his backpack, federal authorities said Tuesday, June 3, 2025, as they filed charges against him and a girlfriend who worked in a lab at the University of Michigan. (United States District Court For The Eastern District Of Michigan via AP) A

2 Chinese scientists will stay in jail while accused of bringing biological material to US

A protester scuffles with the police during a protest over the death in police custody of blogger Albert Ojwang, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

Kenyan police officer in charge of cell where blogger died arrested after protests

A police officer walks past a sealed off area where forensic police work at the site of the discovery of the body of an infant and the infant’s mother, in Rome’s Villa Pamphili park, Saturday, June 7, 2025. (Francesco Benvenuti/LaPresse via AP)

American man detained in Greece over suspected double killing of infant and woman in Rome

Police on Monday fired tear gas to disperse another protest demanding accountability for Ojwang’s death.

Authorities have since said an official investigation is underway.

President William Ruto in a statement on Wednesday said Ojwang’s death was “heartbreaking and unacceptable.”

“I strongly condemn the actions and omissions, including any negligence or outright criminality, that may have contributed to his untimely death,” Ruto said.

The blogger’s death comes almost a year after several activists and protesters were killed and abducted by Kenyan police during finance bill protests. The rallies led to calls for the removal of Ruto, who has been criticized for what some say is his authoritarian streak.

____

Follow AP’s Africa coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/africa