Kenyan opposition figure and lawyer Miguna Miguna has been removed from an Air France flight in Paris moments before takeoff at Charles De Gaulle airport.
The airline said in a tweet that it had received a request from the Kenyan authorities not to allow him to board the flight to Nairobi.
Air France is the second airline to deny Mr Miguna boarding after Lufthansa airline also left him stranded at Tegel Airport in the German capital, Berlin, on Tuesday because there was a red alert on his name.
Kenyan government spokesperson Cyrus Oguna told the Daily Nation newspaper that he was not aware of any red alert and was not sure whether it was issued recently or in February 2018 when Mr Miguna was deported.
Mr Miguna was deported to Canada – where he is a citizen – following his role in the unofficial swearing-in of opposition leader Raila Odinga as “the people’s president”.
He has since then been fighting in courts to be allowed back to the country.
He got a court order in December 2018 that directed the immigration department to issue him with travel documents to facilitate his re-entry to the country.
The ministry of interior earlier this week said it will comply with the order.
Dear Mr Miguna, we confirm that at the request of the Kenyan authorities, we were obliged to deny boarding.
Like all airlines, Air France is required to comply with the entry requirements for the countries it serves 1/2— Air France Newsroom (@AFnewsroom) January 7, 2020
Dear Mister Miguna, we fully understand your disappointment but confirm, that to comply with international regulations governing air transport we were obliged to deny boarding as soon as we received the request of Kenyan authorities, as Lufthansa had to do it this morning.
— Air France Newsroom (@AFnewsroom) January 8, 2020