A Mombasa Court has on Monday charged a UK citizen with sex trafficking 12 Nepalese girls and using them in his club.
The UK citizen, Asif Amirali Alibhai, was charged with three counts related to human trafficking and promotion of human trafficking.
In the documents presented before Shanzu Senior Principal Magistrate, Amirali was accused of having harbored the girls for the purposes of exploiting the girls by means of deception.
Amirali, whose nationality was also in question, is claimed to have permitted the club to be used by the Nepalese in promoting human trafficking.
The court was also informed that the suspect confiscated the Nepalese citizens traveling documents.
However, he denied all charges before Shanzu Senior Principal Magistrate David Odhiambo.
Following the charges mentioned against him, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) objected to the release of the Amirali on bond.
According to the state counsel Shakwila Ayekha, the suspect is a flight risk who is of Indian origin and held two passports and another one from UK.
Read: 12 Nepalese Women Arrested In Mombasa Over Sex Trafficking
Advocate Ayekha asserted that Amirali had declined to surrender the passports and that there is a likelihood he would snub 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,” the State Counsel mentioned.
Additionally, Ayekha asked the court to have the hearing of the matter expedited.
He also expressed the urgent need to have the court give a clear hearing date so the testimonies of the witnesses could be taken before they are flown back to Nepal.
Amirali’s lawyers Jared Magolo and Wycliff Makasembo refuted the claims that the accused was Indian, affirming that he had dual citizenship of UK and Canada.
In his ruling, Magistrate Odhiambo released Amirali on a Ksh200,000 bail with an alternative bond of Ksh700,000.
He also ruled that the prosecution did not give a compelling reason for the suspect to be denied bail.
Odhiambo set the pre-trial on April 23, 2019.
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