Foreign suspected drug traffickers ask the court to observe justice

TWELVE foreigners charged with trafficking drugs in Tanzania worth over 9bn/- have requested the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam to observe justice in the trial following inordinate delay of investigations into the matter.“We are requesting you to help us if there is justice in this country. We are suffering a lot while in prison and no progress of investigations has so far been recorded,” one of the accused people told Principal Resident Magistrate Wilbard Mashauri yesterday when the case came up for mention. The request by the accused who are Pakistanis and Iranian nationals, comes after the prosecution, led by State Attorney Adolf Mkini, requested for more time to complete the investigations into the case. He informed the court that the original police case file was with the Regional Crime Officer to address the court’s concern on non-completion of investigations and, thus, requested the court to set another mention date in order to give more time for them to work on the matter. The magistrate granted the prosecution’s request and adjourned the case to August 8, for another mention. In the trial, the foreigners, including eight Iranians and four Pakistanis, are alleged to have been found in possession of 200.5 kilogrammes of heroin hydrochloride. They are Ayoub Hoot Mohamad, Mohamad Hassan Rahim, Baksh Kheri Nakib, Fahiz Mohamd Dauda, Rahim Baksh Karim, Khalid Samki Ally, Abdul Somad Mia, Abdul Nabii Khrbakashi, Saeed Sahury, Bashir Afraz, Morad Basksh Gwaram and Hazir Azad Mukhtaj. The accused persons allegedly committed the offence on February 4, 2013, in Tanzania territorial waters in Dar es Salaam. It is alleged that jointly and together, the accused were found trafficking the said dangerous drugs valued at 9,022,500,000/-. On February 4, 2013, the police apprehended a dhow carrying the 12 suspects during a routine patrol in the waters near the port. It is suspected the amount of drugs seized could be the biggest ever haul impounded in the country. All the accused persons are in remand because have been denied bail. They were arraigned for the first time to face the charge on February 7, 2013.The accused persons were not allowed to enter plea to the charge because their case will be tried by the High Court. They (accused) claimed to be fishermen, who cannot speak either English or Kiswahili, risk of facing life imprisonment if convicted of the offence charged under Section 16 (1) (b) of the Drugs and Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Drugs Act.