UN diplomats arrested in row over smelly shoes

An argument over stinking shoes between two United Nations employees on a Turkish Airlines flight destined for Nairobi turned physical when the two landed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA).

The Kenya Police Airport Unit (KAPU) deputy commandant said on Monday the two were arrested on Friday but later released as investigations into the cases of assault and creating a disturbance continued.

Haris Pajtic, a Croatian and a human resources liaison officer at UN-Habitat, told the police that he left Istanbul with his colleague and, along the way, Lamin Dean Tunkara took off his shoes.

Mr Pajtic politely informed his colleague that the shoes were stinking, but Mr Tunkara, a Gambian citizen who is a monitoring and evaluation specialist with the United Nations Development Programme, instead insulted him and made obscene gestures at him.

SUCKER PUNCH

Mr Pajtic also accused Mr Tunkara of referring to him using words that are generally considered racist and against UN regulations.

When their flight landed at JKIA, Mr Pajtic reported the matter to Immigration Department officials, who referred him to the Airport Police Station.

The two were escorted to the police station, but while they were recording their statements, another argument broke out and Mr Pajtic punched his colleague in the nose, causing him physical injury.

Diplomatic Police Unit (DPU) head Ambrose Mwawaka on Monday said Mr Pajtic was a diplomat who enjoyed immunity from prosecution.

He added that a liaison officer from the DPU has joined the team investigating the case at the JKIA.

Sources, however, said police were keen on reconciling the two.

“He was released on a cash bail of Sh20,000 and an inquiry file has been opened by KAPU. However, he can only be charged after his immunity has been waived from New York,” Mr Mwawaka said.

IMMUNITY

According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), all diplomats are considered immune from lawsuits or prosecution under the host country’s laws.

If they are to be charged, the immunity must first be waived.

Only two diplomats have been charged with criminal offenses in Kenya in the last 10 years.

Dwight Saragay of the Venezuelan embassy and Alphonse Kambu, a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) legal officer, were charged with murder and serious assault, respectively.

Because of their senior positions at their respective workplaces, they both enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

Barely 24 hours after the murder of then Venezuelan ambassador to Kenya Olga Fonseca in July 2012, Mr Saragay was stripped of his immunity and placed in police custody.

Also, when Kenyan media reported last month that Dr Kambu had battered his former wife, UNEP immediately removed his name from the website containing its list of experts.

The UN, through a note verbale, informed both the police and the court that the immunity Dr Kambu enjoyed did not extend to suspected criminal activity.