Rights groups condemned on Saturday the arrest of four Kenyan filmmakers which the activists linked to a BBC documentary about police killings during protests last year.
The four independent filmmakers鈥擭icholas Wambugu Gichuki, Brian Adagala, Mark Karubiu and Chris Wamae鈥攚ere arrested on Friday, the eve of World Press Freedom Day, in the capital Nairobi and charged with 鈥榩ublishing false information鈥�.
The BBC said in a statement that none of them was involved in the making of 鈥楤lood Parliament鈥�, a documentary published last week that identified security officers who killed protesters during mass anti-tax demonstrations in June 2024.
But rights groups suggested there was a link to the uproar over the film, which has received huge interest in Kenya and led some politicians to call for the British broadcaster鈥檚 expulsion from the country.
Rights groups condemned Friday鈥檚 arrests.
鈥榃e call on the National Police Services to concentrate its vast investigative resources on finding and charging the Kenyan Defence services and police officers identified in the BBC Blood Parliament documentary,鈥� said the Police Reforms Working Group, a coalition of Kenyan and international rights groups. 鈥楾his is where the public interest lies.鈥�
The four were released on Saturday but must appear in court on Monday to face charges of publishing false information.
Interviews with two of those arrested were published online by Africa Uncensored, an independent Kenyan media house.
Wambugu said the police took all their laptops, hard drives and phones.
During the interrogation, police asked him if he had 鈥榙one anything that speaks against government?鈥� he said.
鈥楾hey didn鈥檛 mention the BBC doc... but it鈥檚 not coming from just anywhere,鈥� Wambugu added.
At least 60 people were killed during weeks of protests that began in June over tax rises in a finance bill from the government of President William Ruto.
The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights says at least 89 people were also abducted by shadowy elements of the security services in the following weeks and months, many held for long periods in secret, with 29 still missing.
