The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has urged the Supreme Court to dismiss an appeal by former Venezuelan Embassy official Dwight Sagaray and uphold his 20-year prison sentence for the murder of Olga Fonseca Jimenez in July 2012.
In written submissions in Petition No. E030 of 2026, the prosecution opposed Sagaray’s challenge to the Court of Appeal judgment delivered on March 7, 2025, which upheld his conviction and sentence.
The DPP argued that the conviction was supported by sufficient circumstantial evidence and that Sagaray’s diplomatic functions had ended following communication from Venezuelan authorities terminating his mission and cancelling his diplomatic passport.
The prosecution further submitted that any remaining diplomatic immunity did not shield him from prosecution for acts outside his official functions.
It maintained that the conviction was not based solely on motive or association, but on the combined weight of evidence surrounding a dispute over control of the embassy, Sagaray’s relationship with Mohammed Ahmed Mohammed Hassan, and events preceding Fonseca’s murder.
According to the DPP, circumstantial evidence can sustain a conviction where the facts collectively establish guilt beyond reasonable doubt and exclude reasonable alternative explanations.
However, Sagaray argues that Kenyan courts lack jurisdiction because Venezuela did not expressly waive his diplomatic immunity. He also contests the sufficiency of evidence linking him to the murder.
The Supreme Court Deputy Registrar has directed that the petition be placed before the Deputy Chief Justice for bench empanelment and further directions.
