Court summons doctors over health of Akasha’s sons wanted in US on drug charges

Three doctors have been summoned to appear in court to explain the health condition of two sons of slain drug baron Ibrahim Akasha who are wanted in the US on drug charges.

Baktash Akasha and Ibrahim Akasha, failed to appear at a Mombasa court on Thursday for a ruling on whether it has jurisdiction to hear their extradition proceedings.

Chief Magistrate Julius Nang’ea ordered Dr Radhia Said, Dr Satish Vaghela and a Dr Rishad, from The Mombasa Hospital and Nyali Medical Clinic, to appear in court next week with a detailed report on the suspects’ health condition.

“Prosecution to serve the medics with the summons so they can shed light on the suspects’ health condition before the case can proceed,” he said.

The magistrate also issued summons to the interpreter, Hussein Hassan Mbugua, in the extradition proceedings after failing to appear in court.

The case had come up for a ruling on whether the magistrate’s court has the jurisdictions to hear extradition proceedings against Mr Baktash Akasha Abdalla, Mr Gulam Hussein, Mr Ibrahim Akasha Abdalla and Mr Vijaygiri Anandgiri Goswami.

The suspects are wanted in US to stand trial over drug related offences.

But Mr Nang’ea could not deliver the ruling after it emerged that Mr Baktash and Mr Ibrahim had not turned up on claims that they had been unwell and were on medication.

Their lawyer — Cliff Ombeta — said two of the suspects had been admitted at the medical facilities and were still receiving treatment.

“The suspects were unable to appear in court following a surgery that had been scheduled for today (Thursday), in fact Mr Baktasha had 12 stitches in the mouth,” he told the court as he produced documents from the two health facilities.

Regarding Mr Ibrahim, the defence lawyer said the suspect was to be discharged after undergoing a surgery and take a one week bed-rest as had been advised by his doctor.

DELAYING TACTICS

Senior Assistant Director of Prosecution Alexander Muteti disputed the reasons advanced by the defence lawyers claiming it was a tactic used to delay the proceedings of the case.

“The suspects have deliberately avoided to appear in court, reasons given for their absence are well calculated to hoodwink the court into believing that the suspects are ill,” he told the court.

Mr Muteti said that the medical documents produced in court were contradicting and that they could not be relied on since they appeared to have been altered.

He said one document showed that Mr Ibrahim was admitted at Nyali Health clinic while another showed he had been admitted at the Mombasa Hospital.

“One document show he was admitted on November 16, while the other says 17, so when and in which hospital was the suspect admitted, the documents seem casual and lack seriousness hence should not be admitted in a court of law,” he said.

“As prosecution, we are not persuaded that the suspects did not appear in court on account of sickness, we therefore apply for a warrant of arrest against the suspects,” he added.

He said the suspects were not taking the case seriously and had failed to provide a valid reason why they did not appear in court.

“The whereabouts of the suspects remain a mystery, it raises more concern on how the suspects fell sick at the same time, your honour this is a rear coincidence,” he said .

Defence lawyer George Wajackoyah said it was unfair to issue a warrant of arrest against the two suspects since they had produced documents in court indicating they were unwell.

He said the suspects had been referred to the Mombasa hospital after the medics at Nyali Medical health facility said they were unable to tackle his ailment.

He urged the court not to allow itself to be blackmailed by the prosecution saying issuing warrant of arrest was not necessary.

“When a medical document has been produced in court, our hands are tied, it is unfair and not in the interest of justice to issue warrant of arrest against the suspects,” he said.

He said they had not been given a chance to inform the court of the suspects’ ailments when they appeared in a court last week.

Mr Muteti had also asked the court to issue warrant of arrest against the interpreter saying he was not taking the case seriously.

But the defence lawyers rubbished the application saying it was the duty of the court to ensure the interpreter is availed in court.

“Mr Hussein has done nothing wrong to be arrested, he was not informed and he has always been present when called upon, prosecution is taking the court through a public relation process that should not be tolerated,” he said.

The magistrate however dismissed the applications but ordered the medics and the interpreter to appear before the court for further directions.

Ruling will be delivered on November 24.