1 MILLION SHILLINGS FINE APPEALED, CHINESE MAN REARRESTED WHILE TRYING TO FLEE
(Posted 06th February 2014)
A report a few days ago, that one Zhang Chunsheng was convicted in a magistrates court of one count only, after pleading guilty to several charges brought against him, saw prompt results as an outcry of disgust and outrage swept the social media time lines as well as made their way to the powers that be in the Kenyan judiciary.
The magistrate in question, who for reasons best known to himself decided that a fine of one million Kenya Shillings was enough and a conviction of one count instead of all counts on the charge sheet was sufficient, is now subject to an investigation to establish why he ignored sentencing directives, while the Director of Public Prosecutions himself launched an appeal against the sentence.
The case was compounded when Zhang Chunsheng was nabbed at Jomo Kenyatta International airport yesterday, trying to leave Kenya, raising additional questions why he was not asked to deposit his passport in court, leaving him with the means to attempt an escape without paying a shilling.
The appeal in a higher court will now most likely result in both a substantially increased fine and a custodial sentence after Zhang’s blatant attempt to flee the country will be added to the charge sheet.
Meanwhile though is the career of the magistrate on the line, and unless there are any good reasons he can advance in mitigation of his light sentence an conviction on just one of several counts, his career might well be over, and if so serves as a reminder to other magistrates that unless they uphold the law the law books will be thrown at them for certain.
The link shown below allows access to the initial article written on the 02nd of February.
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thanx alot Ddp for ur gd decision to help our country in conservation may God Bless You