Heroin suspects seek bond in High Court
Suspected drug traffickers Khalid Agil Mohammed (left) and Mohammed Osman Ahmed when they appeared before Mombasa Chief Magistrate Maxwell Gicheru where they were charged with trafficking heroine on August 22, 2014. PHOTO | CORRESPONDENT
Two businessmen, who are among twelve people charged with trafficking heroin with a market value of Sh1.3 billion, have moved to the High Court seeking to be released on bond.
Khalid Agil Mohamed and Mohamed Osman Ahmed said the prosecution has not demonstrated that they are unwilling to attend trial.
At the lower court where they are facing the charge, their application to be released on bond was declined by chief magistrate Mr Maxwell Gicheru.
Through lawyer Jared Magolo, the applicants said there is nothing to warrant a breach of their constitutional right to bail.
“It is my humble opinion that the trial court has treated the applicants harshly and this court has a duty to grant bail in such circumstances,” said Mr Magolo, adding that the main concern of the court is the applicant’s availability to attend trial.
Mr Magolo, in his application, said his clients are Kenyan citizens whose place of abode is known.
“Am instructed to confirm the applicants willingness to observe all conditions imposed by the court,” said Mr Magolo in his application.
On Monday, Ms Lady Justice Maureen Odero directed the Director of Public Prosecution to file and serve their responses within four days.
ABSCOND TRIAL
The court heard that the DPP were served with the application on Friday last week hence needed time to file their reply.
In declining to release the accused on bond, the magistrate said the accused were likely to abscond trial, given the heavy penalty they are likely to face if convicted.
He said it was important for the accused to be present in court during the hearing of the case and that they did not give sufficient material to prove they were Kenyan citizens since copies of their passports annexed were incomplete.
Other accused facing the trafficking charge are messrs Yousuf Yaqoob,Yakoob Ibrahim,Saleem Muhammad,Bhatti Abdul Ghafour,Baksh Moula,Prabhakara Nair,Pak Abdolghaffer,Vikas,Muhammed Saleh and Maur Bwanamaka.
They all denied the charge.
They allegedly jointly with others not before court were found trafficking by conveying in the cargo deck of ship Amin Darya, also known as Al Noor, 377.2 kilograms of creamish granular heroin,33,200 litres of liquid heroin and 2400 litres of diesel mixed with heroin.
The offence is alleged to have been committed on diverse dates between July 2 and 18 this year at Kilindini port berth number eight within Mombasa County.
