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KENYA: MAJOR MEDIA HOUSE SHUT DOWN BY ARMED MEN March 2, 2006
Apunyu Bonny
(SomaliNet) A leading Kenyan media house was Thursday raided by Dozens of armed men and its operations shut down exactly three days after police arrested several reporters from the same organization.
Kenyan chief executive of the Standard Group, Mr. Tom Mshindi, said that the raid targeted The Standard newspaper's editorial offices, printing plant and the transmission centre of its affiliate company, the Kenya Television Network.
The men, who stormed the media house at 1.00 a.m. local time [10.00 GMT], took away computers and transmission equipment, damaged the presses and set fire to Thursday's editions of the country's oldest newspaper.
"We have very strong evidence to suggest that these acts were carried out by the police," Mshindi said.
Kenya's information minister, Mutahi Kagwe, told journalists that he did not order the raid and knew nothing about it. He promised to hold a news conference later in the day. Media owners and practitioners, civil society leaders and opposition politicians strongly condemned the attack.