Supkem protest deportation of man attending burial

By Athman Amran

The Supreme Council of Kenya Muslims (Supkem) has protested the alleged deportation of a man who arrived from Britain on Thursday to bury his sister in Mombasa.

Supkem National Organising Secretary Shariff Hussein said Mr Abdulaziz Mohamed Abubakar was detained on arrival on a Kenya Airways flight at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 7 am on Thursday and was deported back to Britain on Friday at 11 am on another Kenya Airways flight.

“The only crime that Abubakar had committed was being a brother to a man who was involved in an accident three months ago when he went to pick up an alleged suspected terrorist wounded by a police bullet at Kiunga. The brother to Abubakar, Abdulrazak Mohamed Abubakar died during the accident,” Hussein said.

Supkem said the action by the Anti Terror Police Unit was “heartless” arguing that the man was not on the list of suspected terrorists and had only come to bury his sister.

“We had tried to secure his release on Thursday and the burial ceremony had to be delayed to await for his arrival in Mombasa. But the police never allowed us to meet him and never released him but instead deported him without any explanation,” Hussein said.

Hussein wondered whether it was a crime to be related to a person suspected of terrorism or any other crime.

“Why are the brothers of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who are living free and have construction businesses in European countries not being harassed, arrested or deported back to Saudi Arabia? Why should the Kenyan security harass Muslims just because they are related to or are suspected to know some alleged terror suspect?” the Supkem official posed.

Supkem demanded that the Government should explain the real reasons behind the deportation of Abubakar.