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Court orders arrest of Z`bar immigration boss
2005-07-06 08:57:22
By Correspondent Maulid Maulid, Zanzibar
A Zanzibar court yesterday ordered the arrest of the Zanzibar Director of Immigration, Khamis Ali Khamis, for contempt of court.
The Mjini Magharib Resident Magistrate’s Court also summoned Mjini Magharib Regional Police Commander George Kizuguto over his alleged refusal to carry out a court order.
Resident Magistrate Hamis Kombakono issued a warrant of arrest for Khamis following the immigration boss’s alleged failure to release Rashid Nasser after he was granted bail by the court.
Nasser was arrested two weeks ago after allegedly failing to obey an order issued by the Immigration Department requiring him to leave Zanzibar after he was declared an illegal immigrant.
But the court granted him bail because he was a respondent in a lawsuit that was yet to be determined.
However, Nasser was reportedly still in custody as of yesterday morning, prompting Kombakono to issue a warrant of arrest for Khamis and summon Kizuguto for contempt of court.
Kombakono said both Kizuguto and Khamis should appear before the court today.
’’The accused must appear in court for this case to proceed. Both of you have failed to respond to previous summonses sent out to you and you have continued to hold the respondent in flagrant disregard of an order issued by this court,’’Kombakono said in his fresh summonses to Khamis and Kizuguto.
Earlier, Nasser’s lawyer, Hamid Mbwezeleni, told the court that his client was smuggled out of Zanzibar last Saturday with the help of the two government officials.
He said Nasser fled by boat after the crew of an Oman Air flight refused to take him on board.
Kizuguto later admitted that Nasser had spent ’’some time’’ in police custody, but said he was held on the advice of the Immigration Department.
’’Your honour, the suspect was handed over to us by the Immigration Department and they are the ones who are supposed to produce him in court,’’ the RPC told the court.
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