Mombasa High Court releases four Shabaab ‘brides’ on bond

‘al-Shabaab brides

Four ‘al-Shabaab brides’ in court for the hearing of their terrorism case in Mombasa in 2016.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • Justice Chepkwony declined to grant the State’s application to revise the magistrate’s order and deny the accused bond.
  • The judge also ordered Ms Abdalla to provide a Kenyan surety.
  • The four accused were arrested at the El-Wak border point in Mandera County on March 27 while sneaking into Somalia.

Four women accused of attempting to sneak into Somalia to join Al-Shabaab have finally been released on bond.

This comes after the Mombasa High Court declined to revise their bond release order.

Senior Principal Magistrate Richard Odenyo had earlier released Ms Ummulkheir Sadri Abdalla, Ms Khadija Abubakar Abdulkadir, Ms Maryam Said Aboud and Ms Halima Adan on a bond of Sh500,000 each with two sureties of similar amount.

Justice Dorah Chepkwony on Thursday declined to grant the State’s application to revise the magistrate’s order and deny the accused bond.

However, she put harsh conditions on their bond due to the gravity of the offense, which is a terrorism-related case that involves national security.

DEPOSIT PASSPORTS

She ordered the accused to deposit their passports in court and attend every court mention.

The judge also ordered Ms Abdalla to provide a Kenyan surety.

“None of the accused shall leave the court’s jurisdiction without a court order,” said Justice Chepkwony.

Ms Abdalla had introduced herself as a Tanzanian national and a third-year university student studying in Sudan who needed medical attention.

The four accused were arrested at the El-Wak border point in Mandera County on March 27 while sneaking into Somalia to allegedly join Al-Shabaab.

Ms Adan, however, faced another charge of being a member of Al-Shabaab at Kyumbi in Machakos County where she was arrested on April 3.

They all denied the charges and have been in remand at the Shimo la Tewa prison.