French and Belgian wanted on terror charges imprisoned in Malindi

By Paul Gitau

Two Frenchmen and a Belgian wanted in Belgium on terror charges have been sentenced to serve a year in Kenyan jail each for staying in Kenya illegally.

They were sentenced on Friday evening after pleading guilty to the charges in a Malindi court early in the day.

Senior Principal Magistrate Nathan Shiundu slapped the sentence saying he could not allow them the option of a fining them.

He delayed his sentence for hours to peruse a document from the Belgian embassy in Nairobi, believed to have originated from Interpol detailing the foreigners' alleged links to Al Qaeda and their alleged terrorism plans.

Ben Abdalla Ismail and Rachid Benimari who are
French and Mustapha Bouyabaren, a Belgian were charged alongside two Kenyans Hussein Omar and Ahmed Omar who were accused of harbouring them.

It is believed the Belgians will try to seek the extradition amid reports the trio pleaded guilty to try and delay the process.

Intelligence sources have linked the foreigners who came to Kenya two years ago, to Al Qaeda cells in Europe, East Africa and Europe and they are believed to have, recently, returned from Somalia fighting alongside Al Shabaab militants.

The suspects appeared before Shiundu to plead guilty to the charges against them while the two Kenyans denied the charges.
Prosecuting Chief Inspector Paul Nyamai told the court that on July 4 2013 at Central Estate in Malindi District of Kilifi County Ismail and Rachid being French nationals were found being unlawful present in
Kenya without any valid documents.

The Court also heard that on the same day Mustapha Bouyahbaren was found at the Central Estate of Malindi without valid papers.

The two Kenyans were represented by Lawyers Samson Gekanana and Abdallah Mazrui.

They both applied for bail for the two accused persons.

The prosecutor told the court that police raided a home in Malindi to arrest the foreigners after receiving intelligence.

The prosecutor also told the court that foreigners had entered the country on April 2011 through the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi
and that their travel documents allowed them to stay in the country for a month.

Inspector Nyamai said they had intelligent report from the Belgium embassy that the three were wanted for terrorism related offences.

In mitigation Ismail said he had nothing to say while the other two admitted entering Kenya without valid papers and asked the magistrate to enter judgement with that in mind.

The magistrate said he would go through the report before giving his judgement later in the day. The magistrate will also make a ruling whether the Kenyans will be granted bond.