Three journalists were arrested on Wednesday in a case of Photoshop gone wrong.
The three have been accused of cropping Kakamega Senator Cleophas Malala’s image and placing it on a naked body.
David Ndolo, Stafford Ondego, and Alex Njue were arrested on Tuesday and taken to KICC police station.
According to Malala and the police, they allegedly took the senator’s image, cropped the head and placed it on a naked body. The photoshopped image was placed next to a nude woman reportedly under the instruction of a top government official.
Malala said there was a demeaning photo of the said official in a lodging with a woman in a compromising position.
“When the photo went viral, the official told the journalists to photoshop the image and replace his face with mine,” Malala said.
“I was tipped about what happened and I got police to arrest the journalists,” Malala said at Bunge Media Centre on Wednesday.
Malala further claimed that the official paid the journalists Sh5,000 through Mpesa.
He says he has in his possession, WhatsApp messages shared between the official and the journalists. “The journalists’ phones and laptops have been confiscated. We are going to record a statement with the DCI,” Malala said.
The three journalists were released and are expected to report back to the KICC police station on Thursday, an officer handling the case said.
The Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act proposes punishment of up to Sh5 million fine for those who spread false information electronically.
Under the said law, those who intentionally publishes false, misleading or fictitious data, or misinforms — with intent that it shall be considered or acted upon as authentic, with or without any financial gain — commits an offence.