Police constable Klinzy Barasa captured shooting deceased mask vendor Boniface Kariuki to be charged with murder. Photo: Snippet from video.
The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) has approved murder charges against police Constable Klinzy Barasa Masinde, accused of shooting mask vendor Boniface Mwangi Kariuki who succumbed two weeks after the tragic incident.
Following the incident Barasa and his colleague Duncan Kiprono captured in a viral video harassing before he shot Kariuki at point blank close range during June 18 protests in Nairobi CBD, were interdicted by the National Police Service (NPS).
Kariuki was left for death along Moi Avenue, as youths protested the killing of X blogger Albert Ojwang’ at Central Police Station in Nairobi.
On Wednesday, the DPP informed the Court that Barasa will be charged on Friday before High Court Judge Justice Kimondo, as his colleague Kiprono was set free after the DPP said no murder charges would be preferred against him.
Kariuki succumbed at the Kenyatta National Hospital after undergoing two high risk surgeries, with doctors failing to remove fragments of bullets logged in his skull, with doctors reporting they managed to remove two fragments.
The incident sparked debate in the country, with the public and Human Rights groups calling for accountability against the officer, further questioning increased rate of police brutality in the country meted against unarmed protesters.
On Wednesday, a requiem mass for the deceased was conducted at All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi, with calls for justice from the family and Kenyans who joined the family in mourning Kariuki. Later in the evening, police lobbied teargas to friends and colleagues who held a candle lighting where Kariuki was shot.
He will be laid to rest tomorrow Friday 11 at his father’s home in Murang’a County. President William Ruto through MP Betty Maina donated KSh 1 million to the family earlier for burial arrangements.
