A Kenyan high court Thursday ordered the restoration of three major television stations taken off air by the government this week over coverage of a mock presidential inauguration.
The court has suspended the shutdown pending a February 14 court hearing challenging the decision to take the private stations off air, according to a court ruling.
The government cut the television transmission of KTN, NTV and Citizen TV on Tuesday to prevent them from airing the symbolic swearing-in of opposition leader Raila Odinga the same day.
Before the court’s ruling, the Interior Ministry had said the stations will remain off air as officials investigate the “serious breach of security” over footage of crowds gathering for the event.
It’s unclear when the court’s ruling will go into effect or whether the government will honor it.
The court ordered the government to “with immediate effect, restore all television transmissions.” As of Thursday morning, the broadcasters’ signals were still not available on television and could be viewed only online.
Following the shutdown, three NTV journalists spent the night in the newsroom Wednesday over fears of arrest by police officers they alleged had camped outside the building.
Larry Madowo, Linus Kaikai and Ken Mijungu remained holed up in the newsroom Thursday morning.
“We have not broken any laws … we were just doing our jobs and I have no apologies about that,” Madowo told CNN by phone from Nairobi. “This is harassment and intimidation by the government. ”
The Interior Ministry defended its decision to shut down the stations, saying the government had given the media “a full security situation brief well ahead of the illegal activities” of the opposition party.
“Unfortunately, some media houses chose to disregard this advice … the government took a decision to shut down the concerned media houses,” the Interior Ministry said in a statement.
Months of uncertainty
Odinga boycotted the country’s disputed election last year, and swore himself in as the “people’s president” at a ceremony in Nairobi on Tuesday.
Thousands of opposition supporters gathered for the largely peaceful event, and throngs of supporters quickly left the park after it ended. In what appears to be an isolated incident, police fired tear gas to disperse crowds pulling down signs near the park.
The incident is the latest public spat between the opposition and the government following the nation’s two presidential elections held last year.
President Uhuru Kenyatta won a second presidential term with 98% of the vote following a controversial election rerun in November. The election was held after the country’s Supreme Court nullified a previous ballot held in August, also won by Kenyatta, over concerns of irregularities.
Odinga and his opposition party dropped out of the second vote, claiming the election commission had failed to implement reforms.
Odinga’s National Super Alliance (NASA) says it wants to create an alternative government to protest Kenyatta’s rule. But the government warned that Tuesday’s events amounted to treason. The television channels were turned off at 10 a.m. (2 a.m. ET) Tuesday — a move not seen in the country for years.
CNN reached out to the government for comment.
At least 92 people have been killed during the protracted election period, according to a report from Kenya’s National Commission on Human Rights.