Six Kamiti Maximum Security Prison warders, including head of the institution Charles Mutembei Gerrard have been arraigned over the escape of three terror convicts.
The six are expected to be charged with aiding the escape of three terror convicts at the Kahawa Law Courts.
Lawyers Dantan Omari and Cliff Ombeta, who are acting for Mutembei and the other suspects, had earlier on asked for a 20-minute break to review the prosecution files.
The defense, through Omari challenged the jurisdiction of the court arguing that the six should be charged with criminal negligence at Milimani or Kiambu law courts, and not Kahawa, which handles terror-related charges.
"Aiding or facilitating the escape of an inmate is a felony, which is not a terror charge," he argued.
The first and second respondents are Mutembei and his deputy Joseph Loklari Longorianyang.
The prosecution accuses them of failing to "ensure that the condemned block A where the terror convicts were being held was in good condition to prevent the escape."
The remaining four are in charge of manning the CCTV at the prison."
The prosecution charged them with failure to "notice the activities of the convict who escape from the lawful custody despite the fact that the point of escape is properly covered by the CCTV camera."
The prosecution is set to ask for 30-day detention of the accused at a police station within Nairobi to enable the conclusion of investigations.
The Court allowed the defense through Omari to raise the PO (preliminary objection).
The plank of his objection was jurisdiction of the court.
Omari argued aiding or facilitating the escape of an inmate is a felony, which is not a terror charge.
"The fact that the escapees were terror convicts does not make this a terrorism matter. They had been convicted and their case was closed. The accused alleged offense is a criminal matter that must be dealt with a criminal court," he said.
Edited by D Tarus
