Mombasa Magistrate Edna Nyaloti has refused to compel the government to release items confiscated from the home of extradited drug baron Baktash Akasha five years ago.
The items, including vehicles and guns, were confiscated by the police during a raid in Nyali, before Baktash was moved to the United States to face drug trafficking charges.
Baktash's wife Najma Hassan, through lawyer Kiogora Mugambi, had moved to court under a certificate of emergency to have the police release the items.
The items include birth certificates, phones and vaccination certificates.
However, the magistrate refused to grant the requested, noting that since Baktash is still facing charges in the US, they cant be be released without communication from US authorities.
“This court awaits communication from the US court,” she said, in response to the case where Najma says that the sized property belongs to her and her mother in law Fatma Akasha.
She also argued that since Baktash has already been sentenced in the US, the items are no longer useful to the prosecution.
Her lawyer argued that the items were also never used as exhibit, but the prosecution argued that the application is a waste of time which the court should not respond to.
The court set December 9 as the date when a hearing date for the matter will be fixed.
Also in the custody of the the police are at least four vehicles, two powdery substances, 82 bags of alleged tea bags, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) pins, gold chains, ledger books, a short gun, 3 ceska magazines and passports.