Kenyan police officer arrested after daylong protests over a blogger's death in custody

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A Kenyan police officer was arrested Thursday in connection with the death of a blogger in police custody that led to protests in the streets of the capital where two vehicles were burned and several protesters injured.

Protesters took to the streets of Nairobi and destroyed property of unknown value while calling for the resignation of a top police officer named in the case.

Albert Ojwang, who blogged about corruption on the social platform X, was arrested on June 6 in western Kenya and driven 400 kilometers (248 miles) to Nairobi for what police said was publishing “false information” about a top police official on social media. He died two days later at the Central Police Station after “hitting his head against the cell wall,” police said. Amnesty International and local activists have questioned that account.

A government pathologist has refuted the police’s account that the blogger’s injuries were self-inflicted, saying the deceased had “head injury, neck compression and other injuries spread all over the body that are pointing towards assault.”

The protesters on Thursday occupied the road in Nairobi leading to the parliamentary building, where the national budget was due to be presented.

Police on Monday fired tear gas to disperse another protest demanding accountability for Ojwang's death.

Authorities have since said an official investigation is underway.

President William Ruto in a statement on Wednesday said Ojwang's death was “heartbreaking and unacceptable."

“I strongly condemn the actions and omissions, including any negligence or outright criminality, that may have contributed to his untimely death,” Ruto said.

The blogger’s death comes almost a year after several activists and protesters were killed and abducted by Kenyan police during finance bill protests. The rallies led to calls for the removal of Ruto, who has been criticized for what some say is his authoritarian streak.

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Demonstrators protest over the death in police custody of blogger Albert Ojwang, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

Demonstrators protest over the death in police custody of blogger Albert Ojwang, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

A demonstrator walks away from tear gas after being injured during a protest over the death in police custody of blogger Albert Ojwang, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

A demonstrator is attended to after being injured during a protest over the death in police custody of blogger Albert Ojwang, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

A protester scuffles with a police officer during a protest over the death in police custody of blogger Albert Ojwang, in Nairobi, Kenya, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)