NAIROBI: Forty Chinese Nationals accused of operating an illegal cyber-hub within the country have made another effort to secure their release on bond in a Nairobi Court.

Their plea for bail was highly opposed by the prosecution on grounds that they are of fright risk and the offence they are charged with is of serious nature.

They appeared before a Milimani Senior Principal Magistrate Lucy Mbugua Monday and tabled that application.

The Chinese told the court that their passports are valid and they will not abscond bail if granted, they claimed to have come into the country through the airport with a valid reason.

They said the prosecution is highly prejudicial because they are delaying their trial and opposing their bail term application.

According to them, accommodation arrangements have been made and they are willing to present themselves to the nearest police station every time they are needed.

Their Lawyer Sylvester Kibera said there is no compelling reasons made by prosecution to deny the accused bail, the offence ca be gotten for bail because the charges are not serious

Prosecutor Daniel Karuri said their plea was a re-application and that no material change of circumstances of the accused has been made since the last application was heard.

Karuri said he has not been informed of any accommodation arrangements regarding the accused.

"The accused are of fright risk because they don't have a fixture board, the offense they have committed is of serious nature," he said.

He added that while released on bond, they are likely to abscond and fail to avail trial. Mr Karuri said that they have concluded the investigations and they were ready to proceed on March 18, 2015 but the court was not sitting.

He said that he wish to conclude the case expeditiously. The ruling on bail terms will be delivered on April 8.

On December last year, the High Court declined to release on bond the other group of 37 Chinese facing similar charges with the above on bail.

Justice Luka Kimaru ruled that even though the accused are considered innocent until proved guilty, it was not a sufficient reason for him to have them released.

"This is an appellate court; the trial court is better placed to consider merits of this case as well as grounds for issuing bail or not," Justice Kimaru said.

This was the second effort by the group to secure their release on bond after a magistrate's court turned down their request earlier.

Senior Principal Magistrate Lucy Mbugua had declined their bail plea after having them charged. The magistrate instructed that the suspects remain locked up at the Industrial Area Remand.

The magistrate also said that investigations in the crime allegedly committed by the 37 and the charges against them depend on reports from other offices such as the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK), the ICT ministry, Kenya Power Company and the Cyber Crime Unit at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations