High Court Orders Deportation of 4 Chinese Filmed Caning Kenyan Man

The High Court on Wednesday approved the deportation of four Chinese nationals accused of caning Kenyan workers at a Nairobi restaurant.

This came after the four; Deng Hailan, Chang Yueping, Ou Qiang and Yu Ling on Tuesday told the court they were ready to be deported back to their country. 

In an application filed through their lawyer Abdulhakim Abdullahi, the four suspects said have been suffering in detention and requested to be deported.

Consequently, High Court Justice Luka Kimaru on Wednesday directed the implementation of a deportation order that had been signed by Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i on February 13th.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Tuesday opposed the suspects’ bid to be deported, terming it an abuse of the court process and an attempt to defeat justice. The DCI asked the court to dismiss the application and allow the case against the four to continue.

“The investigations against the suspects is ongoing and critical since we are still pursuing the employer /owner of the hotel who has since gone into hiding having learned of the arrest of the suspects,” the DCI said in an affidavit.

On February 13th, Principal Magistrate Hellen Okwany allowed police to detain the four for 15 days for investigations to be completed. Hours later, CS Matiang’i signed a deportation order for the four but the order was suspended by Justice Kimaru on February 19th after the suspects challenged the removal.

The four were arrested after DCI sleuths raided Chez Wou Restaurant in Kileleshwa, Nairobi on February 9th. The raid came hours after a video clip showing Hailan, a chef at the restaurant, whipping a Kenyan waiter went viral on social media. 

After the arrest, it was discovered that Hailan did not have a valid work permit. Yueping and Qiang, who are both chefs at the restaurant, were holding expired visas while Yu Ling, a cashier, was holding a visitor’s visa but without a work permit.

They were all facing charges of assault and causing actual bodily harm.