The High Court has dismissed a case filed by a convicted drug trafficker challenging a decision for a retrial of his case.
Carlito Emelson had been charged with drug trafficking. He appealed the life sentence at the High Court, which ordered for a retrial. Emelson said the grounds upon which the retrial was based violate the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (Control) Act.
Justice John Mativo said if Emelson was aggrieved by the High Court decision, the proper action would have been to appeal at the Court of Appeal.
“The facts before me do not suggest that the retrial is an abuse of court, nor is there anything to show the petitioners’ right to a fair trial has been threatened,”Mativo said.
He added that the power to stay or stop a prosecution should only be exercised if exceptional circumstances exist. Such would result in prejudice to the accused, which cannot be remedied in other ways. “This petition has no merits at all and does not raise any constitutional issues,” Mativo said.
Emelson was charged in 2010 at the Kibera court for drug trafficking. The court convicted him and was sentenced to life imprisonment and a fine of Sh 12 million. Emelson was charged afresh at the senior principal magistrate’s court at the JKIA in 2016. His application to be released on bail was declined.