Venezuelan diplomat convicted of killing ambassador in Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya - A top Venezuelan diplomat has been convicted of killing the country's ambassador to Kenya a decade ago in the suburbs of the capital Nairobi, in one of the titanic cases involving a foreign national linked to the death of his contemporary.

The Nairobi court found Dwight Sagaray, the first Secretary at the Venezuelan embassy in Nairobi, guilty of murdering Ogla Fonseca in July 2012. The verdict was issued by trial judge Rosslyn Korir who has a record of handling murder cases successfully thus gaining public confidence.

At the same length, the court also convicted three Kenyans who were charged alongside Sagaray, noting that they were part of the team which organized and executed the plan. Another suspect who fled after the murder is still at large and the court said his arrest warrant should remain in force.

The prime convict sat pensively in the dock as he waited for the grand judgment, which is a landmark in the history of Kenya on matters of foreign relations. He faced trial because he was not enjoying diplomatic immunity after his native country withdrew it, the court ruled.

Fonseca, 57, was found strangled in her bedroom less than two weeks into her posting to Nairobi, which followed the abrupt departure of the previous ambassador after he was accused by his domestic staff of sexual harassment.

Before the arrival of Fonseca to Kenya following the deployment by Venezuela, Sagaray was the head of the mission and he is said to have been angered by her presence. He is said to have been yearning to lead the mission in Nairobi but his plan did not work out.

Justice Korir said that he intended to be the main beneficiary of the crime having planned and executed it. The judge ruled that he was guilty as judged but the laws of Kenya allow convicts to appeal the murder at the Appeals Court in line with the constitution of the country.

“From the evidence, it is clear that the first accused [Sagaray] resisted the taking of over of the embassy by Ms. Fonseca,” the local daily the Nation reported quoting Korir.

GAROWE ONLINE