MARGARYAN WANTS POLICE OUT OF RUNDA HOUSE
The Standard, Kenya
Aug 2 2006
By Judy Ogutu
One of the alleged Armenian brothers being probed by the Kiruki
Commission of Inquiry, Artur Margaryan, wants the High Court to order
the removal of police officers from his former rented home.
Through his lawyer, Oscar Avedi, he moved to court under a certificate
of urgency and named Police Commissioner and the Attorney General as
respondents to the suit.
"The applicant most urgently needs the court’s intervention in this
matter where members of the Kenya police have invaded his home and
property and denied him access to the same," said Avedi.
Margaryan wants the court’s greenlight to seek orders quashing the
Police Commissioner’s decision to send officers to the Runda house.
Lease agreement
Avedi said under the commissioner’s command, the officers forcibly
occupied and took possession of his client’s property after he left
the country in June.
Margaryan has expressed fears that since he is out of the country,
his property could be damaged, stolen or lost as a result of the
alleged illegal occupation.
He said having established huge investments in East Africa, he had
set up a base in Kenya, got into a lease agreement and went on to
buy furniture worth millions of shillings and vehicles.
"As things stand, one of the applicant’s dogs has died as a result
of neglect," his lawyer said.
Margaryan, who claimed to be a businessman and director of Brotherlink
International and Kensington Holdings, said he was "very attached to
these dogs and they are of great sentimental value".
Court vacation
The police chief, he claimed, also chased away his employees in his
absence, an action that amounted to trespass and a denial of his
right to quiet enjoyment of property.
Avedi said the police officers invaded his client’s property without
a court order.
Margaryan, who is seeking to stop the proceedings of the Kiruki
Commission, failed to convince the court to hear the case during
vacation.
Avedi told Lady Justice Joyce Aluoch that the commission, chaired by
Shedrach Kiruki, had denied him an opportunity to be heard.
Justice Aluoch directed him to file a further affidavit on behalf
of the applicant to enable her to decide whether to admit the matter
for the court vacation.