Two charged in Nairobi over al Shabaab links

Two Kenyan doctors have been charged in a Nairobi court with being members of the al Shabaab group.

Dr Ali Omar Salim and Dr Adan Hassan Hillow were accused of engaging in an organised criminal activity contrary to Section 3 of the Prevention of Organised Crimes Act.

It was alleged that on October 20 at their clinic in Pumwani within Nairobi County, they were found engaging in an organised criminal activity by being members of the al Shabaab, an outlawed criminal group.

The two were arrested on Wednesday by anti-terrorism police while attending to patients at their clinic in Pumwani.

Their arrest comes at a time when the country is on high alert from threats by al Shabaab after the military begun a hunt down of the outlawed group in their Somali territory.

The state through Superintendent Bridget Kanyai requested the court to remand the accused for a further three working days to enable police complete investigations.

She said that from the time the accused were arrested; several issues have been uncovered which required them to be in police custody.

“The accused are required to be taken to Mandera County to establish other facts which have come up and are still under investigations. It will be difficult to carry out the investigations at Mandera if the accused are released on bail,” said the prosecutor.

She submitted that there were some documents required by the investigating officers and which were with government officials and could only be accessed during official working days hence the request to remand the accused.

She said that in the interest of justice and in the view of the seriousness of the offence, the accused should be remanded to enable police gather enough evidence from various parts of the country relating the accused to the charge.

However, the accused through lawyer Chacha Mwita opposed the application to deny them bail saying police should have done investigations before arraigning them in court.

Mr Mwita said that at the time of their arrest, the accused were attending to over 50 patients whose lives had been put in danger and left hopeless due to the arrest.

He submitted that the anti-terrorism police had enough time to go to Mandera to gather the information they require, and that the documents with government officials can be verified while the accused are out on bond.

He claimed that the accused constitutional rights were abused by police officers who subjected them to ridicule, false accusations and intimidation and handing them back to police will be a continued violation of their rights.

He complained that the police have denied the accused the right to representation, and that when he went to see the accused after being arrested, he was blocked at the police entrance.

Chief magistrate Gilbert Mutembei agreed with the prosecutor and ordered that the accused be remanded at Kilimani Police station until October 25 when the matter will be mentioned.

He also ordered that the accused lawyer be given access to them and be present whenever the police are interrogating the two.

The Kenya army has deployed in Somalia to fight the al Shabaab.

On Thursday, the forces captured a pirates haven in Southern Somalia and were advancing towards the al Shabaab stronghold of Kismayu.

Ras Kamboni was seized by troops which entered Somalia through the Kiunga border point in Lamu.

“This avenue provides the Defence Forces with a vantage to clear al Shabaab and pirates on the Somali waters from Ras Kiamboni to Kismayu,” military spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir.

The troops did not face any resistance, he added.