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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/may/17/kenyan-police-launch-inquiry-after-officers-filmed-beating-protester
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| Kenyan police launch inquiry after officers filmed beating protester | Kenyan police launch inquiry after officers filmed beating protester |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Kenya’s police chief has ordered an internal investigation a day after officers were seen viciously beating an unresponsive fallen protester as they broke up demonstrations. | Kenya’s police chief has ordered an internal investigation a day after officers were seen viciously beating an unresponsive fallen protester as they broke up demonstrations. |
| Police fired teargas and beat opposition demonstrators with truncheons on Monday to stop them storming the offices of the electoral commission in Nairobi. | Police fired teargas and beat opposition demonstrators with truncheons on Monday to stop them storming the offices of the electoral commission in Nairobi. |
| Some of the demonstrators, who were demanding the dissolution of the commission, threw stones at police. | Some of the demonstrators, who were demanding the dissolution of the commission, threw stones at police. |
| Related: Kenyan police fire teargas during protest over election watchdog | Related: Kenyan police fire teargas during protest over election watchdog |
| Joseph Boinnet, the inspector general of police, said: “I condemn the lawlessness visited on the public by rioters yesterday and an internal inquiry is under way to determine whether any police officer broke any law while quelling the riots.”. | Joseph Boinnet, the inspector general of police, said: “I condemn the lawlessness visited on the public by rioters yesterday and an internal inquiry is under way to determine whether any police officer broke any law while quelling the riots.”. |
| A video of the incident shows a man in a green sweatshirt running from police before falling to the ground. Three officers then take turns striking him with batons and kicking his motionless body as it lies slumped on the kerb. There were unconfirmed reports in local media that the man later died from his injuries. | |
| Hundreds of protesters were prevented from reaching the offices of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission by police wearing body armour and carrying shields. There have been several such protests in recent weeks. | Hundreds of protesters were prevented from reaching the offices of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission by police wearing body armour and carrying shields. There have been several such protests in recent weeks. |
| “The officers who have violated the rights of citizens by their brutality must face both disciplinary process and criminal prosecution,” said Isaac Okero, the president of the Law Society of Kenya, condemning the “bludgeoning of an apparently unconscious and unresponsive, unarmed man”. | “The officers who have violated the rights of citizens by their brutality must face both disciplinary process and criminal prosecution,” said Isaac Okero, the president of the Law Society of Kenya, condemning the “bludgeoning of an apparently unconscious and unresponsive, unarmed man”. |
| Raila Odinga, a former prime minister who lost his bid for the presidency in 2013, accuses the election commission of bias towards the current president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and has demanded new commissioners be named before elections in August 2017. | Raila Odinga, a former prime minister who lost his bid for the presidency in 2013, accuses the election commission of bias towards the current president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and has demanded new commissioners be named before elections in August 2017. |
| Kenyatta beat Odinga by more than 800,000 votes to win the presidency in 2013. | Kenyatta beat Odinga by more than 800,000 votes to win the presidency in 2013. |
| Odinga and civil society groups accused the electoral commission of a series of irregularities that they said skewed the results. | Odinga and civil society groups accused the electoral commission of a series of irregularities that they said skewed the results. |
| The election nonetheless passed off peacefully, in contrast to the country’s disputed 2007 elections, which degenerated into fierce inter-ethnic violence that killed more than 1,100 people after Odinga’s supporters challenged his defeat by Mwai Kibaki. | The election nonetheless passed off peacefully, in contrast to the country’s disputed 2007 elections, which degenerated into fierce inter-ethnic violence that killed more than 1,100 people after Odinga’s supporters challenged his defeat by Mwai Kibaki. |
| The next election is shaping up as a rematch of 2013, with Odinga, 71, aiming to unseat Kenyatta, 54. | The next election is shaping up as a rematch of 2013, with Odinga, 71, aiming to unseat Kenyatta, 54. |
| “At this time all the country’s leaders, now more than ever, must engage in dialogue that will help keep this nation peaceful,” Okero said. | “At this time all the country’s leaders, now more than ever, must engage in dialogue that will help keep this nation peaceful,” Okero said. |
| “They must desist from inflammatory statements that appear to sanction either excessive and violent police action or criminal conduct by citizens. They owe this to all of us.” | “They must desist from inflammatory statements that appear to sanction either excessive and violent police action or criminal conduct by citizens. They owe this to all of us.” |