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"The accused should tell the court what happened since the
deceased was arrested in good health," High Court Judge Erick
Ogolla ruled.
The policemen - Naftali Chege, Charles Wangombe Munyiri, Baraka
Bulima and John Pamba - were accused of killing 28-year-old
Monson, son of Nicholas, the 12th Baron Monson, and heir to a
family estate in Lincolnshire, in eastern England.
Monson was found dead in his cell after being arrested for
smoking cannabis.
The police have said Monson died of an overdose, but his mother
Hilary Monson told the court that her son had not been a drug
addict at the time of his death.
Two reports by government pathologists, seen by Reuters at the
time, said that Monson had died after suffering a traumatic blow
to the head. An inquest found there had been attempts to cover
up the incident, and threats against witnesses.
The ruling is the result of an inquest that began in 2019 in the
coastal city of Mombasa in a case seen as a test of whether
Kenya’s security services can be held accountable for the use of
excessive force and extrajudicial killings.
The judge said he was satisfied with the case presented by the
prosecution, which sought to have the four face murder charges
over Monson's death.
The judge said no evidence was presented in court to show Monson
was assaulted elsewhere other than within the police station
after he was detained.
Forty-five witnesses including police officers testified during
the inquest.
(Reporting by Joseph Akwiri; Editing by Elias Biryabarema and
Alison Williams)
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