Kenyan policeman arrested in blogger’s death as hundreds protest

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NAIROBI (Reuters) -Kenyan authorities on Thursday arrested a police constable in the death of a political blogger who was in custody, local media reported, as angry protests over the case raged in the capital Nairobi.

Political blogger Albert Ojwang was declared dead on Sunday after his arrest two days earlier. The 31-year-old’s case threw a spotlight on the country’s security services, which have been accused of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances for years.

Hundreds of protesters angered by his death, which police initially suggested was suicide, demonstrated in Nairobi on Thursday. Vehicles were set ablaze and police fired teargas to disperse crowds, Reuters TV footage showed.

President William Ruto responded to mounting pressure on Wednesday by saying Ojwang had died “at the hands of the police”, reversing earlier official accounts of his death.

Ruto has repeatedly promised to stop extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, but rights groups accuse his government of covering up dozens of such crimes by security services.

Police have said Ojwang was arrested in western Kenya on Friday for allegedly defaming the country’s Deputy Police Chief Eliud Lagat online and died “after hitting his head against a cell wall”.

The Independent Policing Oversight Authority watchdog has launched an investigation, while the European Union and the United States have called for a transparent probe into the blogger’s death.

Protesters demanded Lagat’s resignation on Thursday, with some carrying Kenyan flags and chanting “Lagat must go”.

The blogger’s wounds, including a head injury, neck compression and soft tissue damage, pointed to assault as the cause of death, according to independent pathologist Bernard Midia, who was part of a team that conducted an autopsy.

On Wednesday, Police Inspector General Douglas Kanja apologised for the police having previously implied that Ojwang died by suicide.

(Reporting by Jefferson Kahinju and Nelson Aruya; Writing by Ammu Kannampilly; Editing by Bate Felix, Hugh Lawson and Cynthia Osterman)