She noted that she had been receiving threatening messages and calls and at some point expressed fear of leaving her house
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) on Monday, September 2 called for immediate intervention after Catherine Wanjeri Kariuki, a K24 reporter based in Nakuru, who was shot during the Gen Z-led anti-government demonstrations revealed that her life was in danger.
Speaking to the press, Wanjeri claimed that she received calls from people suspected to have been involved in the shooting incident which is currently being investigated, intending to scare her into withdrawing the case.
She noted that she had been receiving threatening messages and calls and at some point expressed fear of leaving her house following intimidating phone calls from an unidentified male caller.
Catherine Wanjeri Kariuki, a reporter with Kameme TV, was shot by police in Nakuru while covering youth-led protests on Tuesday, July 16, 2024. /PHOTO
‘’It is true that there might be someone targeting me. How can I get the courage to come out of my house as a woman when someone you don’t know calls you and even worse, they know your family?’’ she lamented.
The journalist further revealed that she had thought of dropping the case over the threats she had been receiving, but only gained the courage to keep pushing following support from her colleagues in Nakuru.
‘’I have been contemplating dropping this case so they will stop harassing me, but the support from the Nakuru Journalists Association has been significant. They continued pushing the case even when I was in the hospital, giving me enough time to recover. Dropping the case would be letting them down,’’ she revealed.
‘’I want to commend the officials of our association and the chairperson because they have been pushing for this case even when I was in the hospital, doing follow-up even with the IPOA,’’ she added.
LSK President Faith Odhiambo condemned intimidation from the suspects of the heinous act that saw Wanjeri shot in her thigh three times, with preliminary reports revealing that one of the bullets was lodged in her thigh.
‘’This should be investigated, the media should not be intimidated, especially a victim of police brutality,’’ Odhiambo commented on X.
During the shooting, Kariuki was spotted holding onto her leg as she crawled on the ground in pain with blood stains on the upper part of the leg.
