Court finds two guilty of being behind the Westgate attack

The victims and families of the 2013 Westgate terror attack will finally get closure after the court found two men guilty of being behind the attack.

Chief magistrate Francis Andayi on Wednesday ruled that the prosecution had proved to court that Mohammed Ahmed Abdi and Hussein Hassan Mustafa conspired with the attackers of Westgate.

The court, however, freed Liban Abdullahi Omar for lack of evidence. Omar is a refugee and brother to one of the Westgate attackers. 

The three sat pensively in court for over four hours as the magistrate read out the judgment. Some of their family members were following keenly.

Andayi ruled that considering the evidence presented against the Omar, he would give him the benefit of the doubt and find that the communication that he had on his phone with the other attackers was done by his brother.

“He communicated with his own brother 37 times, that is not sufficient for me to find that it was a link to show that he was conspiring with the terrorists,” the court ruled.

According to the court, there is a possibility that it was his brother who was actually communicating with the attackers and not him (Omar).

“I give the benefit of the doubt to the second accused person and find that the communication he had on his phone was innocent,” Andayi ruled.

Abdi and Mustafa were not as lucky, the court found that their constant communication with the attackers showed they knew about the attack.

“I am satisfied that the prosecution has proved the charges of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act and giving support to a terrorist against the two accused persons. I find them guilty and convict them accordingly,” the court ruled.

Abdi is identified to have communicated with one of the attackers more than 200 times as shown in data calls by the prosecution.

Mustafa communicated with the same attacker 26 times and 37 times with Abdi.

The court dismissed Mustafa’s defence that he had business dealings with Abdi.

“I have found that Mustafa and Abdi were in constant communication with the attackers and they will not be doing this unless they had links to them,” the court ruled.

Andayi also noted that as submitted by the prosecution, the pattern and frequency of that communication betrays the allegation that it was on the basis of being friends with the attackers.

“I find that there is a strong link for the two in their communication to the attackers that they were involved in the conspiracy,” he ruled.

The court also ruled that it is never easy to find a direct evidence of a conspiracy because of its covert nature.

“Although there is no evidence showing that the two gave financial, logistical and material support to the attackers, having found that the accused conspired in the terrorist attack I find that their communication with them was giving support to their endeavours,” he ruled.

The case will be mentioned on October 22, when the prosecution is expected to produce several statements from the victims of the attack who will tell court how the attack has affected them.

The court is also expected to receive a pre-sentencing report on the two accused persons and their lawyers will mitigate for them before they are sentenced.