Nairobi, Kenya ? Thousands of opposition supporters and human rights advocates demonstrated Tuesday in Nairobi to protest against last week’s police raids on Kenya’s oldest newspaper and its sister television station.

It was the first time since Kenya’s 1963 independence that the government shut down major media operations. The country’s media have been reporting on corruption scandals swirling around President Mwai Kibaki, who has been seen as increasingly politically isolated.

Internal Security Minister John Michuki ordered Thursday’s raids in which armed and masked police smashed The Standard Group’s printing press and disrupted Kenya Television Network’s broadcast for 13 hours. The Standard was back on the streets and KTN back on their air the same day.