NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 30 – Two terrorists convicted of roles in the 2013 attack at Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi have been handed 33 and 18 years each.
The two, Mohamed Ahmed Abdi and Hassan Hussein Musatafa-both aged 31, were convicted by Nairobi Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi who had found them guilty of conspiracy with four Somalia-based Al Shabaab attackers and assisting them in the worst terrorist attack in 15 years that left 67 people dead.
The Magistrate handed Mohamed 18 years for conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and 18 years for offering support to the terrorists who killed people in the upscale shopping mall. He however, said the two sentences will run concurrently, which means he will only serve 18 years. The Magistrate said he had considered the 7 years the accused had been in custody.
He also handed him 15 years for two counts of possessing terrorist propaganda material on his laptop.
He will serve 26 years and Mustafa 11, taking into account the seven years he had been in jail.
He also handed Hassan 18 years for his roles in the attack, but took consideration of the seven years he has served since arrest, which means he will be in jail for 11 years.
“Despite mitigation by the defence lawyers, the offences committed was serious, devastating, destructive that called for a punishment by the court,” the magistrate said in sentencing the two. Two of their co-accused were freed for lack of evidence.
The two were aged 24 years when they were charged seven years ago.
Their lawyers told the court that they will appeal against the sentence.
The prosecution through Senior Assistant Director of Prosecution Edwin Okello, had called a total of 46 witnesses.
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