DCI officers from disbanded Unit issues demands over their prosection
DCI officers from disbanded Unit issues demands over their prosection further complicating their case which is still in court.
Four former officers of the disbanded DCI Special Service Unit (SSU) who were charged with kidnappings have contested the eligibility of the Internal Affairs Unit (IAU) to prosecute them, giving a fresh headache to the prosecutors.
On Monday, October 24, before the court, the officers contended that IAU did not have the authority to bring the case against the defendants.
Only the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji, and the National Police Service were qualified to present the case to a court, according to their lawyer Danstan Omar.
“Next time you will entertain this matter, the HR unit of the police will come before you in a criminal quasi matter to deal with officers,” Omar stated.
IAU, however, argued in their statement that the superior courts respect their authority to look into police misbehavior and criminal activity.
Diana Mochache, the chief primary magistrate of the Kahawa Law Courts, intervened, pledging to make a decision on whether or not the IAU had the authority to bring charges against the officers.
However, the Internal Affairs Unit also requested that the four cops be held for 30 days in order to complete any investigations linking them to the deaths of two Indian citizens and their driver.
IAU argued that by giving them more time, they would be able to gather the officers’ DNA samples and match them with the trio.
Their initial investigations identified the four as being present at Aberdare National Park, the crime scene where the bodies of the three victims were found.
The report indicated that one of the officers was in charge of the operation that saw the Indian nationals and their driver abducted at the Southern Bypass interchange.
Another was the driver of the Subaru car that intercepted the vehicle the trio was using.
The third officer was believed to be the one who drove another car that ferried the cops and the victims to Aberdare.
The development comes as the Independent Policing Oversight Authority – IPOA – also called on the IAU to halt the investigations claiming that a police unit cannot investigate itself.
“What concerns us mainly is that the IAU of the National Police Service has taken over the investigation.
“The police cannot effectively investigate themselves. We are also asking IPOA be left to carry out the investigations without interference from IAU,” IPOA Vice Chair Jonathan Lodompiu stated.
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