Kenya's four filmmakers who were arrested last week go into hiding

By Ode Francis,  NAIROBI Kenya 

Four filmmakers released last week after a brief spell in police custody, on Tuesday presented themselves at the headquarters of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).

The quartet - Nicholas Wambugu, Brian Adagala, Mark Denver Karubiu, and Christopher Wamae - was accompanied by lawyers and activists who sought clarity on whether they face charges or not, and demanding return of their work equipment confiscated during arrest.

Their visit yielded no answers—no charges were formally presented, and they were not taken to court. 

The four filmmakers have now been placed in a secure undisclosed location for their safety.

"Even the summoning today is against their liberty…they're in a constant state of being summoned to the police…they have no freedom, they have not been given any court date and we’re calling against that and we’re asking the DCI to look at what he is causing the families and to release those boys," said lawyer Gloria Kimani.

Activists led by Boniface Mwangi and Hussein Khalid braved the rain outside the DCI headquarters to show solidarity, awaiting the fate of the four filmmakers.

" We came to the DCI to establish is there a case against these four individuals? We have been told there is no case, they have not been summoned, there is no warrant of arrest for them…so therefore we are now making the call for them to have their property released back to them so that they can continue doing what they do,” said Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director Irũngũ Houghton.

Their families are now calling upon the government to let them be and allow the filmmakers to return to their normal lives.

Hellen Muchira, the mother of Mark Denver Karubiu, said: "We have anxiety and our hearts are heavy because we don't know…because you are used to talking to your child every time, now there is no that freedom as a mother…we have cried a lot from Friday.”