•In her ruling, the magistrate considered their application for bond and relied on a ruling by justice Luka Kimaru stating that the detention of accused persons without trial is unconstitutional.
Image: ENOS TECHE
Four Chinese arrested after a video of a worker being whipped at Chez Wou Restaurant went viral will be detained for 15 days pending police probe.
“The court has considered the fact that the suspects are a flight risk and they will abscond court if released. I allow their detention for 15 days,” principal magistrate Hellen Okwani ruled.
The decision comes despite the prosecution seeking to detain the four suspects for 21 days.
In her ruling, the magistrate considered their application for bond and relied on a ruling by justice Luka Kimaru stating that the detention of accused persons without trial is unconstitutional.
The video of one of the suspects, believed to be Deng Heilan, whipping a waiter for reporting to work late in Kileleshwa went viral on Saturday.
The other suspects are Ou Giang, Yu Ling, Chang Yueping.
They are currently being investigated for assault.
“Investigations will lead to the establishment of other offences that they have committed, including engaging in business without being authorised by a work permit,” an affidavit filed by Noah Kiplangat in court read.
The four are said to have failed to comply with conditions stipulated by their tourist visas.
“The four were arrested following a report which was made at Kileleshwa police station by Simon Osaka Silo who was an employee of the said restaurant and worked as a waiter," Kiplangat said.
Osaka told the police that he was assaulted by Deng Heilan after he reported to work late on February 2.
He also reported that after the incident, he was dismissed by Heilan and was not paid his dues.
“It is notable that a video where the reportee was being assaulted went viral [on] the social media which attracted the interest of the members of the republic,” the prosecution said.
The court heard that during the interrogation, it came out that all the suspects are Chinese nationals who worked at the restaurant as chef, chef, accountant and chef respectively.
Heilan worked as a chef yet he's on a visitor's pass while Ou holds a holiday visa that expired in December 2019.
Yu is said to hold a holiday visa that expired in November 2019. Chang too holds a holiday visa. This makes them ineligible to work in the country.
“During the arrest, four passports were recovered from the suspects, three of the said passports have invalid visas,” Kiplangat said.
Police said they are yet to trace the complainant and record his statement since he went home after his dismissal.