Westgate Mall terror attack: 2 suspects found guilty, one acquitted

Westgate Mall terror attack: 2 suspects found guilty, one acquitted

Two suspects of the 2013 terror attack at the Westgate Mall have been found guilty.

A Nairobi Court found Mohammed Ahmed Abdi and Hussein Hassan Mustafa guilty of aiding and abetting the terrorists.

A third suspect — Liban Abdullah Omar– was however acquitted after the court failed to find evidence linking him to the terrorists.

“Considering the evidence, I will give the benefit of doubt to the second accused person, that the communication was done by his brother, it wasn’t a link for him to have conspired to commit the offence,” Andayi said.

Milimani Law Courts Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi said the two were also found guilty of possession of terrorism material and knowingly supporting a terror act.

The court deduced from the evidence that the two knew of the planned attack and were in constant communication with the terrorists.

In dismissing their defence, the court found that patterns and frequency observed from the evidence betrayed the claim that they were only friends with the attackers and not accomplices.

The court further noted that although there was no evidence that the two financially supported the terrorists, the communication they had with them was enough to support the accusation of aiding and abetting.

Responding to the ruling, Prosecutor Edwin Okello said justice had been served.

He asked the court to grant the office seven days to file a victim assessment as some who were affected may want to file a victim impact statement.

A pre-sentence report is to be filed in court and the mitigation to be done on October 22, 2020.

The court also directed that the Alien card for the second accused person be handed back to him.

The two suspects are facing jail time of up to 20 years.

Tags:

westgate

Want to send us a story? Submit on Wananchi Reporting on the Citizen Digital App or Send an email to wananchi@royalmedia.co.ke or Send an SMS to 25170 or WhatsApp on 0743570000

Leave a Comment

Comments

No comments yet.

latest stories