The Kenyan government is defying a court order to put four private television stations back on the air, escalating a week of political tensions and raising concerns about its respect for the rule of law.

Government officials disconnected the stations, CitizenTV, InooroTV, KTN and NTV, during live broadcasts on Tuesday morning from an opposition gathering in Nairobi, the capital. President Uhuru Kenyatta had warned the owners of the stations against broadcasting the event.

On Thursday, the Milimani High Court, a lower-level court, issued an order requiring the Communications Authority of Kenya to restore the stations “with immediate effect.” By Friday evening, the government still had not complied.

The government has not explained its apparent defiance. But Mwenda Njoka, a spokesman for the ministry of interior, which is named in the order, suggested that the government could appeal because, he said, its representatives had not been present at the court hearing where the order was issued.