Kenya signs extradition treaties with UAE, Mozambique
The Cabinet on Monday approved the signing of extradition treaties between Kenya the United Arab Emirates and Mozambique.
Extradition is the formal process of one state surrendering an individual to another state for prosecution or punishment for crimes committed in the requesting country’s jurisdiction.
Cabinet noted during its meeting on Monday that this will enable Kenyans convicted in those two countries to serve their sentences at home where they are closer to the support of their families.
“Cabinet considered and approved the signing of the Extradition Agreement between the government of the Republic of Kenya and the Government of the United Arab Emirates and the Extradition Agreement between the government of the Republic of Kenya and the Government of the Republic of Mozambique,” Cabinet said in a dispatch.
According to the agreements, persons who breach the criminal law in the other country shall be able to be extradited from the partner nation to the other’s jurisdiction to face criminal proceedings or to serve their final custodial sentences.
Extraditions are typically enabled by a bilateral or multilateral treaty although some countries will extradite offenders without a treaty, but such cases are rare.
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To date, the extradition of the Akasha brothers Baktash, 41, and Ibrahim Akasha, 29, remains the most prominent case where the treaty was applied.
The brothers were extradited to the US in January 2017 along with Gulam Hussein, a Pakistani national, and Vijaygiri Goswami, an Indian businessman accused of managing the Akasha organization’s drug business.
A lower court had blocked their extradition but the state petitioned the High Court to have the accused extradited to face the drug charges in the US.
The brothers were eventually whisked away after a long-drawn court battle.
In October 2018, both Baktash and Ibrahim Akasha pleaded guilty before US District Judge Victor Marrero in Manhattan to seven criminal charges.
The charges included the distribution of heroin and methamphetamine and conspiracy to import the drugs into the United States.
Following their own plea of guilt, Ibrahim and Baktash were jailed for 23 and 25 years, respectively.
Kenya signs extradition treaties with UAE, Mozambique
