• The office of the DPP objected to the release of the suspect on bond
Image: MALEMBA MKONGO
A UK national was on Monday charged in with trafficking 12 Nepalese girls and using them at his club in Nyali.
Asif Amirali Alibhai faced three other charges related to human trafficking and promotion of human trafficking.
The charge sheet showed the offences were committed between March 13 and 24 March during which the accused trafficked and harboured the aliens for the purpose of exploiting them by means of deception.
Alibhai, who is the owner of Rangeela Bar and Amkay Plaza, permitted the club be used by the Nepalese in promoting human trafficking.
Alibhai, whose nationality was also disputed, was also charged with confiscating the Nepalese citizens traveling documents.
He denied all the charges before Shanzu senior principal magistrate David Odhiambo.
The office of the DPP objected to the release of the suspect on bond.
State counsel Shakwila Ayekha said Alibhai was a flight risk. He said the suspect was an Indian who held two passports, anther from the UK.
He said Alibhai had declined to surrender the passports and that it was likely he could abscond court proceedings if released on bail.
“Considering he is not a Kenyan and the nature of the charges, it is likely that the accused would abscond,” Ayekha said.
The state counsel sought to have the hearing of the matter expedited.
He said the Nepalese are required to be expatriated and that the prosecution intended to use them as state witnesses.
He urged the court to give out an early hearing date so their testimony could be taken before they are flown back to Nepal.
Defence lawyers Jared Magolo and Wycliff Makasembo rejected the claimsthat the accused was an Indian. Magolo said Alibhai had a dual citizenship of UK and Canada.
He said the prosecution had failed to give any compelling reasons for the denial of bail. Magolo said they were in possession of Alivhai's passports but were only willing to deposit them with the court and not the police.
“The accused person should be granted reasonable bond terms with alternative of bail as he is also ailing. He suffers from spinal cord which needs constant medical attention,” Magolo said.
Odhiambo released Alibhai on a Sh200,000 bail with an alternative bond of Sh700,000. He said the prosecution did not have facts right on the nationality of the accused and did not give compelling reasons to warrant denial of bail.
He set the pre-trial on April 23.