2 Kenyan TV channels shut down by government resume broadcasting
Stations had been shut down after trying to live stream event declaring opposition leader 'people's president'
Two Kenyan television channels shut down by the government over their coverage of the opposition resumed partial broadcasting on Monday, although a third channel remained off the air.
free-to-air terrestrial channels. Citizen TV, which was also shut down last week, remained off-air.
The three had been shut down after trying to live stream an event held by opposition leader Raila Odinga on Tuesday, where he symbolically inaugurated himself as president.
The Kenyan government called the Jan. 30 ceremony an act of treason, and its arrests of "conspirators" continued.
As journalists and rights groups raised an outcry over the government shutdown of TV stations, the United States had urged Kenya's authorities to respect the court order and allow broadcasts to resume.
Odinga claims the election was rigged and that electoral reforms in the East African nation have not been made. The Supreme Court nullified the August election over irregularities — the first time a court had overturned a presidential election in Africa — and ordered a fresh vote in October that the opposition leader boycotted.
The government responded to Odinga's "swearing-in" by declaring the opposition movement — though not the opposition coalition itself — a criminal organization and investigating "conspirators" in Tuesday's ceremony.
On Thursday, a High Court judge directed the government to restore the transmission for the Kenya Television Network, Citizen TV and Nation Television News and not to interfere with the stations until a case challenging their shutdown is heard.
With files from The Associated Press