A Nairobi court was enveloped in a sombre atmosphere after proceedings were briefly paused to honour a suspect who had died while a case linked to the controversial BBC documentary titled Blood Parliament remained pending.

The matter, a miscellaneous application arising from investigations into the June 2024 anti-finance bill protests, had been listed for mention to allow the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) to update the court on the progress of its inquiries.

The protests, largely driven by Gen Z demonstrators, culminated in the storming of the National Assembly and a violent police response that left several people dead or injured.

When the case was called, defence lawyer Ian Mutiso informed the court that one of the suspects, filmmaker Nicholas Wambugu, had passed away earlier in the morning while receiving treatment at a Nairobi hospital. The revelation prompted a reflective moment in court, as Senior Principal Magistrate Otieno Wambo observed that Kenyan law offers no clear guidance on how courts should respond when an accused person dies during ongoing proceedings.

The magistrate noted that “prolonged interaction with litigants often humanises court processes, yet there is no legal framework guiding how such losses should be acknowledged.”

At Mutiso’s request, the court allowed members of the bar, court staff, and other attendees to observe 30 seconds of silence in honour of the deceased filmmaker.

Wambugu had been jointly arrested with fellow filmmakers Brian Adagala, Mark Denver Karubiu, and Christopher Wamae in May 2025, shortly after the BBC aired the Blood Parliament documentary.

The investigative piece alleged that security forces opened fire on unarmed protesters outside Parliament during the June 2024 demonstrations.

The four were held at Muthaiga Police Station and later arraigned under a miscellaneous application filed by the DCI. To date, however, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has not preferred formal charges against them. They remain out on bail under court-imposed conditions as investigations continue.

The case has drawn significant public attention following claims that investigators violated the suspects’ rights while in custody.

Lawyer Mutiso previously accused DCI officers of unlawfully installing surveillance software on the filmmakers’ electronic devices during detention.

The court heard that a forensic examination conducted by the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab found evidence that one of the suspects’ mobile phones had been compromised using commercial spyware known as FlexiSPY.

The report indicated that Wambugu’s phone was seized on May 2, 2025, and returned more than two months later. Analysis showed the spyware was installed while the device was under police control.

According to Citizen Lab, FlexiSPY is capable of secretly recording calls, accessing messages, tracking locations, and remotely activating microphones, raising serious concerns about unlawful surveillance and potential data manipulation.

The court was further told that while investigators confirmed the presence of FlexiSPY, they could not conclusively rule out the installation of additional spyware or interference with data during the time the phone remained in state custody.