4 Reporters Beaten, Detained in Kenya
Police on Sunday beat and detained four Western journalists covering riots in which paramilitary forces fired tear gas at demonstrators protesting the arrests of five student leaders.
Meanwhile, President Daniel Arap Moi said Sunday that he has ordered seven missionaries, believed to be Americans, deported for plotting against the government.
Hundreds of students went on a rampage after five elected leaders of the university’s student organization were arrested Saturday.
Riot troops moved in Sunday morning after the students began stoning cars on roads bordering the University of Nairobi.
The students scattered but later regrouped at their dormitories. Hundreds of troops surrounded them and bombarded them with tear gas.
Of the reporters, Lindsey Hilsum, 29, of the British Broadcasting Corp., and Patrick Moser, 30, of United Press International, were the most seriously hurt and went to a hospital for checkups after the incident.
Doctors at Nairobi Hospital said that Hilsum, who was beaten over the back, sustained severe bruises and that Moser suffered a broken nose and a possibly perforated eardrum.
Peer Meinert, 36, of the West German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur, and Didrikke Schanche, 31, of the Associated Press also were hit with police batons.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
