Andreas Katsouris (right)
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Canadian national Andreas Katsouris was in Nairobi working for the National Super Alliance (NASA) presidential campaign when a dinner outing on Friday night turned into a detainment and deportation.
While on a dinner outing, what was meant to a time to enjoy himself turned into an action movie when he was swarmed in a Nairobi street by men who arrested him, took his cell phones and demanded he take them to a colleague.
“I was on my way to dinner on Friday night when five or six tough looking guys wearing street clothes surrounded me, and then pretty soon there were a dozen of them,” Katsouris said.
“I saw one of their cell phones and there was a photo of me on it. They said they had been looking for me.”
Katsouris said the men identified themselves as police and asked him to bring them to his American co-worker, John Aristotle Phillips.
The men only a few minutes to call his wife before they confiscated his two phones and laptop.
They then took him to his apartment, asking him and Phillips to pack their bags and when they protested the officers became aggressive and began pushing and shoving them.
“One guy also grabbed the glasses off my face. I’m pretty much blind without my glasses, and then I was like ‘OK we don’t have to do things this way,’ and then he put them back on.”
The officers also denied both of them a chance to contact lawyers or access to consular assistance, he said.
“I’m sitting in the car with four or five guys, and two of them are sitting on either side of me and it is pitch black outside. In terms of kidnapping and if I was going to be killed, it definitely crossed my mind,” he said.
Five hours later, he found himself at the airport, where were brought into a room and told they were being extradited because of a violation of their visas.
Katsouris was put on a connecting flight to Toronto, which first landed at Frankfurt Airport, where he then took a train to Delft.
“It was 23 hours of boredom and about an hour of fear,” he said.
Katsouris said he and Phillips only possessed tourist visas, which are not valid for their employment in Kenya, but he believes the deportation was political.
Katsouris is a vice-president of global services at Aristotle Inc., a political consulting firm which offers various services to campaigns, including strategy and data analysis. Phillips is the company’s CEO.
Comments
Kwani they expected what a limo ride with cheese and hamburger hypocrites!!
The usual nobodies who go to developing countries masquerading as Know-it-alls ..yet are ignorant white idiots of the lowest caliber.
It is amazing that NASA employed them and flew them to Kenya to work for them on visitors visas with no work permits. The last time I checked NASA was parading prominent lawyers to portray how well they are versed with the laws of the country and how willing they are to rule by the law. Is this how they will do their business? I am also surprised the Kenyan media does not ask this question when reporting this saga. Can the Canadian first explain how he got to work without permission before he can complain about how he was manhandled. Also if the expertise that these guys were offering to NASA was that crucial that they had to be sneaked in to work without permits, then what kind of expertise was that if not suspicious? I think their activities were subversive if not they their masters would have sought work permits for them.
Just me, name calling is not necessary. I don't support that. I don't like it when people call us black anything, so why should it be different for someone to call another human being a white anything. That's low.
Wame deportiwa, tosha- if they did not adhere to their visa. Racism is another matter, we wacha.... we need to move on from this ndungu.
Wow wow it's good on this one wr speaking as one with one voice??Remember during coalition gover kajwag from Rao side sold so many passports to foreigners even others in Kenyan cities needs to b found by this guys wadipotiwo kwao.They always call Africa banana republic n yet they won't to leave here comfortably knowing their countries u have to follow the law but in Africa they do shit n escape.During icc moments I started seeing this west countries in another way??They wanted our pple jailed without evidence n yet most of their leaders r walking free with innocent blood in their hands.
You should always adhere to that country's laws. You break the law and there are consequences.ICE does it every day, even to mothers who have lived here for thirty years. Kenyan authorities ought to protect their country regardless of the color of the law breakers. Thank you for doing your job. No crocodile tears here.
Isn't how ICE does it here. Ukivunja sheria you go back home, Kenya is not a jungle with no law...and yeah ICE guys are tough looking and rough too nkt!