Shabaab 'brides' face seven fresh charges after acquittal
Ummulkheir Sadri Abdalla, Khadija Abubakar Abdulkadir and Halima Adan in court on October 11, 2018, when they were cleared of charges of being members of terror group Al-Shabaab and planning attacks. PHOTO | BRIAN OCHARO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Ummulkheir Sadri Abdalla, Khadija Abubakar Abdulkadir and Halima Adan, who were accused of being Shabaab bribes, were cleared in October.
While ruling in their favour, Chief Magistrate Evans Makori said the prosecution failed to prove their membership to the terror group or even that the videos they were found with were to be used to instigate terror activities.
They are now accused of arranging a meeting in support of the terror group, charges that were preferred after the prosecution amended the previous ones.
Three women who were acquitted of terrorism charges, including being members of Al-Shabaab and conspiracy to carry out an attack, have been charged again.
Ummulkheir Sadri Abdalla, Khadija Abubakar Abdulkadir and Halima Adan, who were accused of being Shabaab brides, were cleared in October.
CITY MEETING
While ruling in their favour in October, Chief Magistrate Evans Makori said the prosecution failed to prove their membership to the terror group or even that the videos they were found with were to be used to instigate terror activities.
The women returned to court on Tuesday and faced Mombasa Senior Principal Magistrate Henry Nyakweba.
They faced seven fresh charges that arose from the past case; they are now accused of arranging a meeting in support of the terror group, charges that were preferred after the prosecution amended the previous ones.
The prosecution said the women organised a meeting in Nairobi on March 27, 2015, the agenda being to cross into Somalia in support of the terrorists.
They are further charged with conspiring with persons outside Kenya to carry out an act of terrorism, an offence they allegedly committed at Elwak on the Kenya-Somalia border.
SIMILAR CHARGES
In the third to seventh counts, the suspects are charged with having articles for use in committing the act of terrorism.
The prosecution told the court they were found with a Samsung laptop which had videos of slain controversial Muslim preacher Aboud Rogo, which they were also to use in the crime.
The suspects denied the charges, saying they are similar to the ones they were acquitted of.
“The charges are not true. We have been charged with the same offences and acquitted,” they said through their lawyer Hamisi Mwadzogo.
Mr Mwadzogo said he will rely on the chief magistrate's judgment to prove his clients' innocence.
“We will rely entirely on this judgment to defend our case. We are ready to proceed with the case right now."
THE ACQUITTAL
State Counsel Erick Masila said the prosecution was also ready to proceed as its witnesses were prepared.
Last month, Chief Magistrate Makori acquitted the suspects of charges including being members of Al-Shabaab, conspiracy to commit terrorist acts and collecting information for the purpose of committing these crimes.
They were also cleared of the offence of being in possession of articles for use in instigating commission of terrorist acts.
Mr Makori noted the prosecution's need for circumstantial evidence pointing to the crimes and further proof that the accused watched or distributed the videos they were found with, with the intention of extending the tentacles of Al-Shabaab or any other terror group.
The case will be heard on Wednesday.
