Nairobi Principal Magistrate Hellen Okwani has ordered four Chinese accused of caning their Kenyan workers to be detained for 15 days.
“Police have sought 21 days to complete investigations and the court has taken note of the decision of the High Court which is binding,” ruled Ms. Okwani.
In her ruling, the magistrate considered the bond application and relied on a ruling by High Court judge Luka Kimaru which stated that the detention of accused persons without trial is unconstitutional.
“The court has considered the fact that the accused persons are a flight risk and will abscond court,” added the magistrate, in justifying detaining them for 15 days as opposed to the maximum 24 hours in Justice Kimaru’s precedence.
In the ruling, the court said that respondents are foreigners and will leave the jurisdiction of the t if released.
Further, the magistrate ordered the police to provide a holding charge to enable the respondents to ly for bail pending investigations.
The case will be mentioned on March 4, 2020.
