DPP protests as ISIS-linked doctor accused of plotting anthrax attack set to be freed

ISIS terrorists may be plotting a biological weapon attack. [File, Standard] The Director of Public Prosecutions Renson Ingonga has moved to court protesting missing file of a doctor jailed in anthrax attack case. This comes as the doctor jailed over links to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and plotting a bio-chemical attack in the country is counting days to his freedom, after the magistrate court staff withheld his file for over a year. According to Ingonga, it became impossible for him to appeal the magistrate's court verdict before the High Court as his appeal cannot proceed without the crucial trial documents. It emerges that despite the High Court registrar reminding the lower court multiple times to send the record from May 2024, this was not honoured. Assistant Director of Public Prosecution Duncan Ondimu in an application filed before the High Court said that there is a danger Mohamed Abdi Ali alias Abu Fidaa alias Abu Shuhadaa alias Abu Ramzi walking free after completing his 12 years sentence owing to the failure to hand the file in time. "Despite repeated follow-ups, the certified lower court record- essential for the expeditious determination of the appeal-was not availed until July 11, 2025 at 4.30pm, over one year since the appeal was lodged," argued Ondimu. According to him, the lower court has to-date not remitted certified documents and judgment to the High Court in order to pave way for hearing of the appeal. "There is a high probability that the first respondent will be released before the hearing of the appeal, thereby rendering the appeal nugatory, occasioning grave injustice to the victims, compromising public confidence in the justice system, and undermining national security," said Ondimu. At the same time, he said that Salah Mohamed Khalif, who was charged alongside the doctor but acquitted has been actively seeking to leave the country. Chief Magistrate Martha Mutuku jailed Abdi after finding him guilty but said his sentence will run from the time he was arrested on April 29, 2016. The doctor who was based in Makueni County was found guilty of recruiting members of ISIS and being in possession of articles related to terror activities. He was also found guilty of planning to carry out a terrorist attack on Kenyan soil using a biological agent in the form of anthrax bacteria. Mutuku, in her sentencing, said the prosecution had proved its case against the medic. Ali's wife, Nuseiba Mohammed Haji Osman, also known as Ummu Fidaa, who was a medical student on attachment at Mubende Hospital in Uganda, was acquitted on April 12, 2024. The Chief Magistrate acquitted the woman on all counts she had been charged alongside her husband over lack of evidence. Ali was arrested on April 29, 2016, at his residence in Wote town while his wife was nabbed at the Entebbe International Airport in Uganda after investigations were launched over their link to the intended establishment of an ISIS caliphate in Kenya and East Africa. The magistrate observed that the doctor wanted to establish an ISIS cell in Kenya with the help of ISIS returnees from Libya. "There was overwhelming evidence that Ali was in constant communication with other terrorists outside the country through the use of his social media accounts of Twitter, Gmail, WhatsApp, Kik, Threema and Telegram among others," ruled Mutuku. The court said from the evidence presented by 26 witnesses, Ali was actively linked to the terrorist organisation and would disseminate information to them using various social media accounts and offering logistical assistance to ISIS through his Twitter account, which changed name to X. "Even if the accounts were closed, he would open others and share the information or material with the terrorist group followers," stated Mutuku. In the case, the DPP had sought a custodial sentence of up to 90 years, arguing that the charges Ali was facing were serious and would have ramifications on the nation if he committed them through the use of technology. "Ali's terror network was wide as it extended to Western, North Rift, and Coast regions as well as across nations like Somalia, Libya and Syria. ISIS your honour targets medical students around the world," argued Ondimu. At the High Court, he said that in case the doctor is released, he may not show up in court for hearing owing to the gravity of the case. "The leniency of the sentence, coupled with the serious nature of the crimes, creates a significant risk that the Respondents may abscond if released- particularly in anticipation of the likely outcome of the appeal," the prosecutor said.

DPP protests as ISIS-linked doctor accused of plotting anthrax attack set to be freed

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