Lamu attacks: Man charged with 60 murder counts
Mahadi Swaleh Mahadi, alias Jesus, (smiling) with Dyana Salim Suleiman in the dock at Mombasa Law Courts, where the two were charged with multiple counts of murder on July 9, 2014. They denied the charges. PHOTO/LABAN WALLOGA
A man arrested by security officers in connection with the Lamu attacks was on Wednesday charged with the murder of 60 people.
Mahadi Swaleh Mahadi, alias Jesus, was charged alongside matatu driver Dyana Salim Suleiman, who had been charged with the murder of 12 people last week.
The prosecution substituted the earlier charges against Mr Suleiman and jointly charged him with Mr Mahadi.
The accused denied all the charges when they appeared before Justice Martin Muya sitting in Mombasa.
According to the prosecution, the offences were committed between June 15 and 17 this year at Kaisari village and Mpeketoni township within Lamu County.
Judge Muya directed the accused to be remanded at the Port police station and the case be mentioned on Thursday before Mr Justice Edward Muriithi for directions.
“We pray the two accused be remanded at Port police station to canvass our application before your brother (Judge Muriithi),” prosecuting counsel Alexander Muteti told the court.
PSYCHIATRIC EXAMINATION
The court also directed the accused to be taken for psychiatric examination and a report be presented to the court on July 16.
The prosecution is seeking a review of a ruling by Justice Muriithi in which he released Mr Suleiman on a Sh500,000 bond with three sureties of similar amount on Monday, explaining why the case will be mentioned before him.
The bail order by Justice Muriithi was to take effect on Monday next week as the accused was to be remanded in custody for seven days to allow police to complete their investigations.
Justice Muriithi had directed Mr Suleiman to report to the investigation officer of the case every seven days pending trial until he received further orders from the court.
The judge had also said that he did not find any evidence that the accused was a flight risk or that the number of murder charges presented or proposed will tempt him to jump bail because the sentence for all the charges is death.
He added that allegations that the situation on the ground was volatile and that the safety of the accused could not be guaranteed were not supported by any evidence.
The judge said the state was under duty to provide for the security of all and that it could not be said the accused was safer in custody
