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Kenyan court overturns release of ivory kingpin on bail

Xinhua, August 27, 2015 Adjust font size:

Suspected ivory kingpin Feisal Mohamed Ali's release on bail by the Magistrate Court in Mombasa was overruled by the High Court on Wednesday.

The kingpin was last week released on 100,000 U.S. dollar bail with a surety of the similar amount. He and five others are charged with trafficking two tonnes of ivory that was seized in Mombasa on June 5, 2014.

However, Mombasa High Court Judge, Justice Martin Muya, overruled the decision following application by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution, challenging the release of the suspected ivory kingpin on bail by the Magistrate Court.

Ali, who has been in remanded since December 23, 2014, is a suspected ivory trafficker and has been a fugitive from the law since early last year when an arrest warrant was issued against him by Kenya police and Interpol.

He had escaped to Tanzania where he remained a fugitive for seven months before arrest, following a red notice issued by Interpol.

The Wednesday's ruling reaffirms its earlier one delivered on July 7 which emphasized that Ali is a flight risk and should thus not be released on bond. The suspect will therefore remain in custody during his trial.

The trial of the suspect and five others, which commenced on Aug. 17, follows a protracted inquiry into the disappearance of evidence in the case. Endit