This archive report was first published on 16 July 2019.
On July 4, the African Court on Human and People's Rights ruled that the families of 10 Kenyans convicted and sentenced for robbery with violence in Tanzania were entitled to compensation due to the lengthy period of time the trial took.
The court's verdict was issued in a case in which the Kenyans sued the Tanzanian government following their arrest in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2006 and the prosecution that followed.
The 10 Kenyans, who include Wilfred Onyango Nganyi alias Dadii, Peter Gikuru Mburu alias Kamau, and Jimmy Maina Njoroge alias Ordinary, were convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison, while five of them were acquitted and released from jail for lack of evidence.
The court awarded the money, with 11 judges pointing out that all the beneficiaries did not allege a differentiated level of prejudice. They also considered that the trial took two years, six months, and 14 days despite a higher court's order for a speedy prosecution.
The court noted that prejudice was suffered for the period during which the case was put on hold before the trial commenced. The judges awarded $1,000 to spouses, $800 to each child, and $500 to a father or mother named as a dependent.
They also awarded $3,000 to each of those acquitted for pain, physical, and emotional suffering, and $4,000 to those convicted, despite the Tanzanian government terming the awards as baseless and mere afterthought.
The judges further awarded each of the 10 TSh300,000 ($130) as compensation for legal aid during the trial but declined to quash their sentence or award them for loss of income, saying the claims were insufficiently proven.
