Kenya - A Kenyan court delayed on Tuesday the trial of a lawmaker and senior Muslim leader charged with inciting violence after offering to finance a separatist group, officials said.
Sheikh Mohammed Dor was arrested in October, three days after the arrest of the leader of the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC), a group that wants the coastal region of Kenya to break away from the rest of the country.
Dor was arrested in the capital Nairobi after publicly offering to fund the MRC, and was transferred to the port city of Mombasa.
The Muslim leader, who has slammed a police crackdown underway on the MRC, has said that since the Mombasa-based group is no longer outlawed, proposing to finance it cannot be illegal.
Defence lawyer Stephen Nenesi said more time was needed after prosecution lawyer Alexander Muteti said the charge sheet was altered to include the “original words” Dor is alleged to have said.
Dor has denied the charges of incitement to violence and is released on bail. The trial was set to begin on November 29.
Dor is one of 12 Kenyan members of parliament who are not elected but rather appointed by the president to represent “particular interests” - in his case, Kenya's Muslim community. - AFP