A Magistrates Court has released businessman Jimi Wanjigi on a personal bond of Sh10 million pending a ruling on whether it will defer his plea taking on allegations of being in possession of unlicenced firearms.
Chief Magistrate Susan Shitubi at the same time directed Wanjigi to deposit his passport in court pending the ruling to be delivered on September 12
This is after Wanjigi, through his legal team led by Senior Counsel Paul Muite, Kalonzo Musyoka, and Willis Otieno, applied to have the plea taking deferred, claiming their client’s rights had been violated.
They argued that there was a high court order issued by Justice Bahati Mwamuye stopping his arrest and detention.
Muite told the court that the proceedings were already flawed based on the existing High Court order.
“Allow the plea to be postponed to give us an opportunity to challenge the High Court for the reason that when he was arrested, there was a valid court order,” Wanjigi’s defence team said.
Muite told the court that it’s unacceptable for the police to ignore and act in violation of court orders.
His counterpart, Otieno, said the current charges before the court are the subject of proceedings in a petition before the High Court.
Otieno said when the police raided his client’s home, the only items discovered and confiscated were iPhones, iPads, and three flags.
“But this was still done in the absence of a search warrant. Now they want to present a charge in court for disobedience of court orders?” Otieno asked.
Otieno also took issue with his client being reportedly held incommunicado with no access.
The court will determine these issues on September 12.
