Kenyan court charges four police officers over baby’s death after 2017 elections

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NAIROBI (Reuters) – A Kenyan court on Monday charged four police officers with crimes against humanity over accusations of killing a baby during a crackdown on protests after a disputed election in 2017, according to court documents, media and rights groups.

Charges against eight other officers were dropped due to what the prosecutor’s office said was insufficient evidence, Citizen Television reported, in a move that was condemned by rights campaigners including Amnesty’s Kenya chapter.

The four officers pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to local media reports.

Police in the East African nation frequently face accusations of brutality and extrajudicial killings from civilians and rights groups, but officers are rarely charged and almost never convicted.

Six-month-old Samantha Pendo died in August 2017 in the western city of Kisumu after officers threw tear gas into her home, suffocating and beating her, according to her mother’s .

An inquest into the incident was opened in November that year. The prosecutor’s office recommended that 12 officers be charged with the deaths of Pendo and 39 other protesters during countrywide protests challenging the outcome of the 2017 presidential vote.

Thirty Kenyan rights groups, including Amnesty, condemned the prosecutor’s decision to drop the charges against eight of the officers, saying it was done without the involvement of the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, which investigated the case.

(Reporting by Humphrey Malalo and Ammu Kannampilly; writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Sharon Singleton)