An anti-terrorism court on Thursday visited DusitD2 Complex in Nairobi on the second day of the hearing of a case in which three suspects are facing terror-related charges.
Court officials visited the scene under tight security. Two witnesses took them through what transpired from the gate to where four terror suspects were cornered and killed on January 15, 2019.
Mire Abdulahi Ali, Mohamed Hussein Abdile and Mohamed Abdi Ali are facing at least five charges in connection with the attack where 21 people were killed and dozens wounded.
The charges include conspiracy to commit a terrorist act, aiding and abetting a terror act, committing fraud in registration of documents and facilitation of a terror act.
Witnesses who included scenes of crime personnel from the anti-terror police unit demonstrated how various parties tried to fight off the attackers.
They said the attackers were prepared to prolong the siege and cause more deaths and anguish.
The court spent almost six hours at the complex as witnesses took those present from one place to the other.
They were shown where the suicide bomber was before he detonated himself outside an eatery, sparking off the attack albeit late by his accomplices.
Kahawa West chief magistrate Diana Mochache is hearing the case.
The hearing started Wednesday before it was moved to the scene of the crime on Thursday.
Lawyer Moses Ouko, representing Suleiman Bashir for the first accused, and Chacha Mwita for the second and third accused persons, was present and briefly cross-examined the witnesses.
The hearing continues Friday.
The attackers had planned to stream the attack live on social media.
Their plans were cut short by swift response from security agencies and other parties.
They were all killed a few hours later.
The hotel was reopened and closed months later due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Other businesses are operating in the area.
The attack was claimed by al Shabaab, an affiliate of Al-Qaeda, which has repeatedly targeted Kenya over the presence of its troops in Somalia.
In 2013, an attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi left 67 dead, while in 2015 al Shabaab killed 148 people at a university in Garissa.
The terror group has also attacked several other places, specifically near the Kenyan-Somalia border, leaving many dead.
