24 June 2009
Nairobi — A 50-year-old American evangelist Wednesday appeared before court charged with possessing pornographic material.
But Mr Thomas Kevin Manton of Dominion International at Nairobi City was denied bail and remanded in custody until Friday for the police to complete their investigations.
The evangelist was arraigned before Kibera senior resident magistrate Cosmas Maundu and denied the charge.
The prosecutor Joseph Musyoka told the court that on February 25, 2009 at Runda Estate in Nairobi, for the purpose of or by way of trade or for the purpose of distribution or public exhibition, the accused made or produced obscene publication - one compact disc - tending to corrupt morals.
Mr Musyoka told the court that the evangelist who came into the country in 2007 might face more serious charges after completion of investigations.
Immediately the charges were read to the accused, his lawyer Charles Agwara asked the court to released him on bail.
Mr Agwara told the court that they will prove that there was a scheme to extort money from the accused.
But Mr Musyoka protested against the allegations.
"This is serious allegations. We don't know whether the allegations are true," the prosecutor said.
He objected to the accused being released on bail saying the police had not completed investigations.
"The accused was arrested on June 23, 2009 and the police have not completed their investigations. He prayed that the accused be remanded in police custody to enable investigating officer to finalised his investigations," Mr Musyoka said.
Mr Musyoka added that defence lawyer made serious allegations of extortion of money which have not been proved.
Mr Agwara opposed the application by the prosecution saying it was not the first time for the evangelist to be arrested by the police.
Earlier, he said, his client was arrested and held at Jamhuri police post.
"I have been attending Kilimani police station for the last one month. The police said they were waiting for witnesses to record statements," the lawyer said.
"One month is a fair time to complete investigations. When he was arrested and locked at Jamhuri police post he was released after paying some money. We had even complained to Commissioner of Police about the case, Mr Agwara told the court.
He added that three days to carry investigations lacked merit.
"The prosecution has not tendered any evidence for the accused be remanded for three days," the defence lawyer told the court.
But Mr Musyoka said that they had several documents they intent to investigate as they are having pornographic material.He prayed that the accused be remanded saying they were not malicious when they arrsted him.
The magistrate agreed with him and remanded the evangelist.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
