NAIROBI, Kenya - Kenyan police have arrested a Venezuelan diplomat over the killing of the country's acting ambassador in her official residence, the High Court heard Monday.
Venezuela's acting ambassador and charge d'affaires, Olga Fonseca, was found dead in her official residence on Friday. Police said she was strangled, though the motive is unclear.
Dwight Sagaray, first secretary at the Venezuelan Embassy, was arrested on Saturday and Kenyan police on Monday made a court application to hold him in custody for another 14 days.
"The suspect was arrested by the police after his diplomatic immunity was waived," deputy prosecutor Tabitha Ouya told the courtroom.
'Investigation is incomplete'
Sagaray, wearing a yellow and green baseball jacket, appeared composed as Venezuelan officials observed the proceedings.
"The investigation is incomplete and (we) require more time to secure crucial evidence and apprehend other suspects," Ouya said.
According to Kenya Capital FM News , Ouya said authorities needed to interrogate more witnesses and also awaited the results of DNA samples taken at the scene of the crime.
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Jotham Arwa, the lawyer representing Sagaray, said the suspect was also a student at the University of Nairobi, Capital FM News said.
Sagaray was arrested along with five Kenyans who worked at the Embassy but it was unclear whether the local suspects have been charged or released.
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Kenyan Foreign Ministry officials said local staff at the residence had complained to its Diplomatic Police Unit after the new envoy fired them.
Fonseca had sacked them after they refused to retract sexual harassment claims against the former head of the Venezuelan Embassy, the employees said.
Fonseca, 57, had only been the country since July 15, the EFE news agency reported.
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Jose Miguel Reyes, administrative assistant at the Venezuelan Embassy, told EFE that the servants "were never fired," but they had "refused to acknowledge Fonseca's authority" and kept working at the residence anyway.
Judge Florence Muchemi will rule Tuesday whether to remand Sagaray in custody or release him on bail.
Post-mortem results and DNA analysis have not yet reached police investigators, according to court documents.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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