Jowie fights back death sentence in rights court
Convicted murderer Joseph Kuria Irungu alias Jowie has petitioned the High Court challenging the constitutionality of the death penalty imposed on him, terming it cruel and inhumane.
Jowie wants the Milimani High Court Constitutional and Human Rights Division to declare the laws that prescribe a death penalty in Kenya unconstitutional to the extent that they permit or prescribe the imposition of death sentences.
The former private security provider who was sentenced to death for the murder of Nairobi businesswoman Monica Kimani on March 13 this year, argued that the jail term imposed on him violates his right to life proceed by Article 26(1) of the constitution and wants the death penalty against him declared a degrading form of punishment.
Degrading treatment
“We seek a declaration that the petitioner’s sentencing to death on March 13, 2024 was in contravention of the Jowie’s right to freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment contrary to Article 25 of the Constitution,” Jowie’s lawyer Andrew Muge states.
Jowie also wants the court to declare that section 379 (4) of the criminal procedure code is unconstitutional as it denies persons sentenced to death the right to bail pending appeal.
According to Jowie, the clause is unconstitutional and discriminatory considering people jailed for other crimes had the right to apply for bail.
“Section 379(4) of the Criminal Procedure Code is discriminatory and infringes on the right to human dignity of a person sentenced to death and thus contrary to Articles 27 and 28 of the Constitution,” Muge says.
Further, Jowie seeks monetary compensation arguing that his rights were infringed after he was denied bail as well as being sentenced to death denying him the right to life.
In his petition, the convict wants the Government of Kenya through the Office of the Attorney General to bear the cost of the petition.
In 2017, the Supreme Court declared the mandatory death sentence unconstitutional but did not outlaw it.
