• He says magistrate's immediate recusal and transfer of his case without hearing of parties supported his suspicion of bias.
• He was transferred from Shanzu to Malindi court, terming transfer malicious and unlawful.
A Turkish billionaire accused of defilement and child prostitution on Monday complained to the JSC that chief magistrate Julie Oseko is biased.
Elsek Osman Erdinc wants his case moved from Malindi to Mombasa High Court for subsequent transfer to a "more competent" subordinate court.
Osman is charged with 10 counts of defilement and child prostitution.
He filed the complaint against Oseko and notice of motion on August 29 after allegedly seeing conflicting reports in the court proceedings.
He wants a stay of his trial pending an inter-parte hearing.
Osman, in a sworn affidavit, said his case was transferred from Shanzu law courts unlawfully, irregularly, maliciously and with bias.
“I understood malice and bias of the court after I read typed, handwritten and certified proceedings that had empty pages, alterations and additions not supporting the witnesses testimonies, my lawyers, oppositions and many other things," he said.
He said on August 19, he appeared before the criminal registry of Malindi law courts and filed an application with his lawyers but Oseko recused herself and transferred the case to a different courtroom.
He said this was done without hearing the parties or considering his complaints.
“I believe the chief magistrate will most likely influence Malindi magistrate court Number Two because she is the head of all magistrates at the law courts, “he said.
Further, he said Oseko’s recusal and transfer of the case without the hearing of parties supported his suspicion of malice and bias.
Osman said the prosecutor in Shanzu was from the DPP's office in Kilifi and not Mombasa, which has the jurisdiction of the matter.
He said the transfer of his case from Shanzu to Malindi was done against the Criminal Procedure Act.
The matter was on Monday before Malindi chief magistrate William Chepseba but it could not proceed after prosecutor Alice Mathangani asked for more time to go through the application and get instructions for reply.
The hearing will be on October 17.
Defence counsel Cliff Ombeta said the transfer of the case from Shanzu to Malindi, and from Court 1 to 2 was procedurally wrong.
Some of the issues raised in the affidavit were not drafted by lawyers and were from the accused, Ombeta said.
The businessman is accused of defiling a minor and three others on different dates between February and October last year.
He is also charged with touching them indecently. Other charges are child prostitution at his residence at Kikambala, Mtwapa in Kilifi county.
Osman denied has denied all the offences and alleged that powerful individuals targeted him so that he surrenders his more than Sh5 billion investments in the country.
Edited by R.Wamochie