Family of Westgate Mall terror suspect worried over whereabouts

By Wilfred Ayaga

Nairobi, Kenya: The family of a man allegedly being held secretly by the authorities in connection with the Westgate Mall attack has expressed fears for his life.

The family of 36-year-old Ali Kiai Gitonga says they have not seem him since he was picked by security officers from his Aga Khan Hospital bed in the aftermath of the Westgate attack.

His wife, Khadija Mutuli Mohammed, has now petitioned the High Court to produce Gitonga or his body in court.

She says the continued lack of information regarding his whereabouts is a violation of his constitutional rights.

“There is a real apprehension that the security authorities will hold him indefinitely or execute him,” she says in a petition before Justice George Odunga.

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Her lawyer, Mbugua Mureithi, accuses the police of failing to prefer any charges against Gitonga despite having detained him for more than two weeks.

He said the family was yet to get any information on his whereabouts even after writing to the Attorney General inquiring about him.

Taken away

Khadija claims that her husband was taken away by security officers from the Aga Khan Hospital on September 21, where he had been admitted after being injured in the attack.

She says she witnessed doctors remove a bullet lodged in her husband’s body at the hospital, before he was later picked up by security officers.

“My husband called me from the mall and told me he had been injured by police officers and was being taken to hospital together with other casualties,” she claims in her petition.

According to her, the family has been denied access to her husband by officers of the Kenya Defence Forces who are allegedly keeping watch over him.

“Despite our numerous visits to the Forces Memorial Hospital, KDF officers have totally denied us access to him,” the petition reads.

She claims that her husband was a victim of the attack and not a perpetrator, and faults claims by police that he is a member of Al-Shabaab.

She also accuses Aga Khan Hospital of failing to give her details of her husband’s medical condition and discharge.

In the petition, the wife has listed the Chief of Defence Forces, Inspector General of Police, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Attorney General and the Aga Khan Hospital as defendants.

Justice Odunga directed the parties to appear before him Friday after the Attorney General’s office requested more time to respond.