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| Westgate terror suspects Hussein Hassan Mustafah, Adan Mohamed Ibrahim alias Adan Abdikadir, Mohamed Ahmed Abdi and Liban Abdullah Omar at Nairobi’s Milimani Law Courts, Wednesday. [PHOTO: GEORGE MULALA/STANDARD] |
By FRED MAKANA
Nairobi, Kenya: A Nairobi court has declined to release on bail the four suspects believed to behind the Westgate shopping mall terror attack on grounds that the country is still under security threat.
The prosecution’s insistence that the suspects posed a major security threat and were a danger to the public was upheld by Nairobi Chief Magistrate Kiarie Waweru yesterday.
Mohamed Ahmed Abdi, Liban Abdullah Omar, Adan Mohamed, and Hussein Hassan Mustafah, all of Somali origin, are accused of involvement in the September 21 attack in which 67 people were killed and 200 others injured.
The accused, who have been in custody since October, denied the charges.
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In making his ruling, the magistrate said he took into consideration the numerous terror attacks the country has been subjected to in the past.
“Every person has a right to be released on bail, but at the same time the court has a right to ensure public safety is catered for in its decisions,” the magistrate ruled.
Waweru ruled that investigation into the attack was underway at Kakuma Refugee Camp and in a number of other countries where other suspects are believed to have fled to.
He said the prosecution’s assertions that the accused lack a fixed residence was the other reason as to why the court denied them bail for fear that if released they were a flight risk. “The identity of some of the suspects is still in question,” the magistrate said.
However, Waweru disowned police affidavits sworn by Inspector Kennedy Musyoki saying four of the suspects’ accomplices died in the operation which was mounted to rescue hostages from the mall. He said the reasons advanced in the affidavit were not satisfactory to deny the accused bail as it lacked supporting evidence.
The magistrate told the accused that they had a right to canvass with the trial court for bail consideration once the trial kicks off.
In his submissions to oppose the accused from being granted bail, State Counsel Mungai Warui had stated that the accused had a vast network in the country meant to execute more attacks.
