NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 7 – Two suspects charged with terrorism conspiracy charges over the September 2013 Westgate Mall attack were Wednesday convicted, a magistrate court finding them guilty of aiding the gunmen who carried out the attack.
Nairobi Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi said the Director of Public Prosecution had satisfactorily convinced the court that Mohamed Abdi and Hussein Mustafa helped Al Qaeda-linked militants launch the assault on the high-end Nairobi shopping mall.
However, the Nairobi Chief Magistrate set free one suspect – Liban Abdullahi – for lack of evidence linking him to the conspiracy.
The judgment deferred four times came more than seven years after gunmen from Somali militant group al Shabaab massacred at least 67 people and left more than 100 others injured inside the Westgate Complex.
The trial magistrate said the sentencing will be issued after a pre-sentencing report is filed by the prosecution.
The three accused persons had been remanded in prison alongside another co-accused for the last seven years.
he lead prosecutor Edwin Okwlllo, had submitted that the two accused, were indeed in communication with the attackers, and the investigating officer had recovered a laptop from Abdi that contained material relating to terrorism activities.
“The videos shown to the court during the trial showed materials used by the terror suspects,” he submitted.
The court observed that the laptop containing the materials was recovered from Abdi who was arrested in Kitale three days after the attack. He was on his way to Kakuma refugee camp.
According to the prosecution, four attackers were killed at the scene and several exhibits recovered from the motor vehicle they used. They included five mobile phones and six registered sim cards.
The prosecution’s case was supported by data analysis based on communication between the accused and the attackers.
