A Marsabit-based sheikh accused of terrorism has told a Nairobi court he prefers to remain in prison in case he is acquitted.
Appearing before Milimani chief magistrate Wendy Kagendo, Sheikh Guyo Garso through his lawyer John Khaminwa said he fears he might be harmed if the court exonerates him.
Garso was in court for his judgement in the case.
The cleric claimed that people who have been acquitted of terrorism charges have been abducted, killed or disappeared without a trace.
Garso also wants an assurance from the state that he will be safe if acquitted.
“We have a written a two-page letter to Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Mating’i seeking an assurance that he (Garso) will not be harmed but the response was not satisfactory,” Khaminwa said.
Khaminwa asked the magistrate to either summon the Director of Criminal Investigations George Kinoti to court and assure his client of his safety.
He also requested to be allocated officers to escort him to his hometown and the names of those officers be recorded in court.
Khaminwa said the orders he intends to receive from court will guarantee that his client will be safe at his home and won't be abducted by state agents.
“He told me that he better stay in jail than be killed after his acquittal," Khaminwa said.
The magistrate adjourned the judgement until April 6, when she will give further directions.
Garso was arrested in 2018 by the Anti Terror Police Unit and was subsequently accused of being an al Shabaab operative, using his position as a religious leader in Marsabit to recruit youths into the outlawed group.
He was also accused of commissioning acts of terror.
Recent incidents where suspected al Shabaab sympathisers have been arrested and denied their day in court is said to be reason why Gorsa, sought the orders from the court.
He faces 11 counts of being a member of the al Shabaab and possessing articles used for the commissioning of terror acts in the country.
Last week, a man who was cleared of terrorism charges by a Kwale court was abducted by unknown men in front of his relatives as they were travelling home in Mombasa.
Amani Mohammed Mwafujo, a terror suspect, was seized from a matatu just after he had been released from the Shimo la Tewa Maximum Prison.
He had been in remand for six years.
Last year, a man who was cleared of terrorism charges over the 2013 Westgate Shopping Mall attack was also abducted by unknown gunmen.
Reportedly, gunmen stopped his taxi and abducted him.
Omar, a Somali refugee in Kenya, had just left ATPU offices in Nairobi when he was seized, according to Khelef Khalifa, the director of Muslims for Human Rights.
He had been released from the Kamiti Maximum Prison and was going through clearance at the ATPU office, as is the procedure with terror suspects.
In November 2021, it was reported by Haki Africa that 34 terror suspects had disappeared .
Haki Africa said the number was almost twice of those who disappeared in 2020.
(Edited by Tabnacha O)
