A Nairobi court has sentenced a news editor to 6 months imprisonment for publishing a misleading article.
The senior Editor at TUKO.co.ke was given an alternative of paying Sh50,000 fine
He had published an article in relation to the ongoing NYS graft case.
Senior Principal Magistrate Eunice Nyutu sentenced him both in his capacity as an editor and his personal capacity.
In her ruling, Nyutu said the punishment will act as a deterrent to other journalists, editors and media houses against publishing misleading articles.
She noted that the story had damaged the reputation of the witness.
In the case, the court has summoned TUKO and KBC managing editors.
The two were summoned for writing a misleading story about a prosecution witness who was being cross-examined by the defense.
This is after the prosecution raised a complaint saying the articles had tainted the name of their witness.
Through his lawyer, the TUKO editor apologized to the court about the story.
He said one of their correspondents had given them the story and once they realized the error, they pulled down the story.
However, the court said writing a defamatory story was punishable by law.
TUKO was also directed to publish an apology to the witness on their website and also retract the initial article published.
The court issued further summons to the KBC Managing Editor.
The magistrate refused to hear a representative that had been sent to represent his boss, saying she needs the managing editor.
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