A case in which a Kenyan national is facing multiple charges of rape, assault, deprivation of freedom and attempted murder of a Swedish woman he was residing with has began in Stockholm but in Camera.
During the first hearing of the case on Tuesday June 26th, members of the public were not allowed into the court room. The Swedish authorities could not immediately give reasons for the lock-out as the expectation was that the trial was public. A lawyer told KSB that a person involved in a case in Sweden has the right to request that he/she be heard in camera especially when the person is a witness.
During the Juliet Kavinga case, a former girlfriend of the Swedish national who was suspected to have killed Juliet presented her evidence in camera. The public (including KSB crew) was requested to leave the court room just before she took the witness stand.
According to information gathered by KSB, the prosecution is not just seeking a jail term but also deportation of the Kenyan back to Kenya once he completes his jail term. According to details of the case, the Kenyan allegedly raped the woman on several occasions while he is also suspected of threatening to kill her on multiple times. According to police investigations, the Kenyan allegedly threatened to kill the woman by suffocating her with a pillow.
On occasions when she was allegedly under deadly threat, the Swedish woman is reported to have telephoned some close contacts weeping that her life was in danger. Police interrogated a handful of the woman’s contacts who reportedly gave chilling tales about constant threats to her life. The Kenyan has denied all the charges.
The problem with the case is that there are no eye witnesses who could stand up in court to corroborate the woman’s allegations. Without witnesses, Kenyan legal analysts believe that the case might be shaky unless something dramatic happens. The case is expected to be dominated with “word against word”. The case will continue on a daily basis until the day of judgment. It is expected to last for at least two weeks.
In the meantime, the trial of an HIV positive Kenyan who is suspected to have raped two Swedish women is yet to begin because police investigations are still underway. The Kenyan is suspected to have infected the two women with HIV.
The case is also problematic because the Kenyan is alleged to have committed the offences about two years ago. The major huddle in the case is that the crimes were never reported to police immediately and this situation is likely to create major obstacles especially in the value of evidence.
From the perspective of KSB, the two Kenyans might be freed if the rules of evidence are strictly followed. The advantage on the side of the accusers is that the system is likely to be on their side because of racism and discrimination within the Swedish Justice system especially when it comes to cases involving Africans.
Despite the availability of ample evidence, a Swedish national who was suspected to have murdered Juliet Kavinga, a Kenyan national, went free. When the case came up in the appeals court, it was also dismissed. For many Kenyans who understood the case, the acquittal of the suspect was difficult to grasp without the element of racism within the Swedish Justice system coming into the picture.
Billy Boy, a Kenyan national, was sent to prison for eight months two years ago after being accused of assaulting a Swedish woman. The crime was allegedly committed two years before the trial and although there was no strong evidence, Billy served his term to the end.
The case of this writer who was brutalized by Swedish guards early this year and in which pictorial evidence of circumstances of the crime existed never made it to court “due to lack of evidence”. Four Swedish nationals who witnessed the crime did not matter in the case. Police were called immediately to document the crime but still it failed to even make it to court. KSB is following the cases.
Okoth Osewe
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