Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i has ordered the deportation of the four Chinese nationals who were arrested over the caning of a Kenyan waiter as reported by Capital FM on Thursday, February 13.
The four were under investigation after a video of a Chinese chef whipping a Kenyan waiter went viral on social media on Saturday, February 8.
They had been held at the Kilimani Police Station pending further investigation.
On Thursday, February 13, Nairobi Principal Magistrate Hellen Okwani ordered that four Chinese nationals arrested after a video of the caning of a Kenyan worker at Chez Wou Restaurant went viral, be detained for an additional 15 days.
“Police have sought 21 days to complete investigations and the court has taken note of the decision of the High Court which is binding.
“The court has considered the fact that the accused persons are a flight risk and will abscond court,” the court ruled while justifying holding them for 15 days.
The four, who were facing charges of assault and causing bodily harm, were arraigned at the Milimani Law Courts with the prosecution demanding they be detained for 21 days.
The defendants, however, argued that the charges were not serious enough to warrant them being held for three weeks.
“The charges are not serious to warrant 21 days…The prosecution doesn’t need the 21 days to investigate.
"The video shared on social media has generated public interest but we must not lose sight. There are always two sides of a story and the video doesn’t give us the context,” they argued then.
The four, Deng Hailan, Chang Yueping, Ou Qiang and Yu Ling were nabbed when officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations raided the Kilimani based restaurant on February 9.
"Following reports of an incident doing rounds in sections of the press depicting a man of Asian descent assaulting a male employee said to be working at a hotel, this morning detectives from Kilimani raided eatery in pursuit of the matter," the DCI announced after making the arrest.
Chang Yueping and Ou Qiang, were arrested for reportedly holding expired Visas. Yu Ling, the eatery's cashier, was arrested for holding a visitor’s Visa but lacked a work permit.
The case was set to be mentioned on March 4.
