Today the 2nd and 3rd accused were present in court with their counsel. Magistrate Maroro acquitted both accused of the charges before the court due to insufficient evidence. The bond terms of the 2nd and 3rd accused are to be released to their guarantors.
The 1st accused is still at large and his warrant is to be retained.
As can be expected from an ivory prosecution involving 4.5 kg of worked ivory and lasting 8 1/2 years, there were irregularities.
Court records indicate that a judgement on this case was rendered on February 16th, 2023 and the accused convicted. A sentencing date was scheduled for March 2nd. This never happened, perhaps the accused were not immediately remanded on their conviction.
In any event, the first and primary accused, Kim Young, following his conviction, had his passport returned to him by the court in error. He has never been seen since, believed to have returned to South Korea or wherever.
It was also discovered that the land title deed that Young provided the court in 2015 as part of his bond was fake as was the identity of his surety.
The assistance of Interpol was apparently requested to find Young and return him to Kenya but that has not happened to date.
Case Overview
Presiding Magistrate and Court: Hon. Monicah Maroro – Principal Magistrate Court 8 | |
State Counsel: | Advocates for the Accused: Mwanzia Elijah Kyule (for 2nd and 3rd accused) |
Accused: 1. Kim Young 2. Patrick Willy Mutuku 3. Dennis Paul Yandi | |
Charged:
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Date of Arrest: 2015-12-23 | Date of Arraignment: 2015-12-24 |
Location of Arrest: Express Mail Service, Tom Mboya St, Nairobi | Contraband Seized: 4.5 kg ivory (2 parcels) |
Proceedings
November 15th, 2023 (Mention): The court slated next date of December 22nd for another mention. (SEEJ_AFRICA not in attendance)
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October 4th, 2023 (Mention): While the 2nd and 3rd accused were present, the first accused, Kim Young, is still outstanding. There has been no update on his whereabouts, last believed to be in Addis Ababa. The prosecutor requested an additional 1 1/2 months for interpol to track and apprehend Young.
June 6th, 2023 (Mention): The matter was slated for mention so that the court can be updated on the progress made in locating the 1st accused.
The new IO (CI Inoti has been re-assigned) informed court that he is new to this case and required more time to locate the 1st accused. He assured court he had now appraised himself fully with the matter and that he has taken details of surety, passport details of the 1st accused and details of the land used to secure the accused person’s bond.
These details, according to the IO, would enable him follow up with the land’s registry and immigration’s department and lastly locate the surety.
The court granted the IO one month with the option of the case being mentioned as soon as the 1st accused is apprehended (even if it is tomorrow).
It was learned that the 1st accused did attend court faithfully throughout the subsistence of the case without fail but on the day the matter was initially slated for sentencing (or judgement?) he never returned at the time allocated by court for sentencing and was never to be seen again.
He further stated that, the 1st accused did build a good rapport for dutifully attending court and this enabled him have his passport returned to him prematurely.
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