THREE Kenyan police officers were on Friday given sentences ranging from 24 years in jail to the death penalty for the brutal murder of a rights lawyer and two other people.
The bodies of lawyer Willie Kimani — who had criticised police abuse — as well as his client Josephat Mwenda and driver Joseph Muiruri were found wrapped in sacks and dumped in a river outside Nairobi in June 2016.
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The torture and killing of the three men sparked furious protests in Kenya, where many people fear the police.
In July last year, High Court judge Jessie Lessit found the three officers, including a woman, as well as a police informer guilty of murder. A fourth policeman was acquitted.
Lessit on Friday sentenced former policeman Fredrick Leliman to death while his colleagues were sentenced to 24 and 30 years in prison.
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The informer was given a 20-year term.
“This was a most foul murder and execution that was most heinous,” Lessit told the packed courtroom.
She singled out Leliman for acting “in flagrant abuse of his office” and masterminding the murder “in a sophisticated master plan”.
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Cliff Ombeta, a lawyer for the three officers, told AFP that they would all appeal the sentence.
“This judgment cannot stand the test of any court of appeal judges,” he said.
