Kenyan Akasha Brothers Launch Fresh Bid to Stop their Trial at US Court

The Kenyan Akasha brothers have launched a fresh bid to stop their trial for drug trafficking charges at a United States court.

Through their lawyers, the Akashas have for the second time asked a US judge to strike out narcotics-smuggling charges that could have them jailed for life.

This comes after similar attempts by defence lawyers in April to have the case thrown out on the grounds that the Akashas’ extradition from Kenya to the US in 2017 breached the terms of a bilateral extradition treaty.

In a 28-page application submitted to presiding Judge Victor Marrero last week, Christopher Cassar, a lawyer representing Baktash Akasha argues that “this court lacks jurisdiction over the defendant” and the case should not proceed to trial.

“A taped telephone conversation between Mr Akasha and a confidential US government informant constitutes “the sole basis” for the prosecution’s claim that a federal court in New York is the proper venue for the case,”Cassar writes.

“The informant told Mr Akasha in the call that he would take supplied narcotics to the US,” Mr Cassar further notes. 

The attorney says the prosecution does not allege that the Akashas ever actually smuggled drugs to the United States.

Dawn Cardi, an advocate for Ibrahim Akasha on the other hand argues that a revised indictment against their clients “simply repeats over and over” that the accused persons intended to ship narcotics into the US.

He further notes that the only purpose of the informant’s stated aim of sneaking drugs into the US “was to create the appearance of some nexus to the United States so that the DEA (US Drug Enforcement Agency) could later arrest the defendants and prosecute them in the United States.”

“The indictment contains no allegations that Mr Abdalla (Akasha) agreed to act in the furtherance of drugs being sold in the United States,” the attorney declares.

Lawyer Cassar notes in his memorandum that “none of the defendants have ever travelled to the United States.” The Akashas were arrested in Mombasa in January last year and flown to New York to face the drugs smuggling charges.

On July 2nd, Judge Marrero in a ruling dismissed defense lawyers’ submissions that the brothers were “forcibly kidnapped” by DEA agents in violation of the Kenya-US extradition treaty.

“The Akasha Brothers’ allegations that they were removed from Kenya before they were formally extradited do not run afoul of any provisions of the (Extradition) Treaty,” Judge Marrero wrote then paving way for the case to proceed to trial.