The Kahawa Law Courts have convicted a man on seven terrorism-related charges after prosecutors proved he was linked to the outlawed terrorist group Al-Shabaab and possessed extremist materials capable of promoting radicalisation.

🇰🇪 Breaking It Down

The court found the accused guilty of membership in Al-Shabaab, collecting information connected with terrorism and possessing articles connected with the commission of terrorist acts under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2012.

According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), the offences were committed on September 6, 2022, in Nairobi's Eastleigh Section III, where the accused was found to be a member of Al-Shabaab, a terrorist organisation proscribed in Kenya under Gazette Notice No. 2326 of April 7, 2015.

Principal Magistrate Gideon Kiage ruled that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt after considering evidence presented during the trial.

📌 What You Need to Know

A key piece of evidence was a Samsung mobile phone recovered from the accused, with forensic analysis revealing three videos containing radical extremist propaganda capable of being used to recruit, train and radicalise young people.

In his judgment, the court held that ownership of the phone had been established and that the accused failed to provide any reasonable explanation for possessing the extremist material, leading the court to infer that he was associated with the terrorist group.

The court also convicted the accused on three counts of collecting information connected with terrorism contrary to Section 29 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act and three counts of possessing articles connected with the commission of a terrorist act.

The prosecution, led by Principal Prosecution Counsel Kennedy Amwayi and assisted by Prosecution Counsel Fatuma Ahmed, called 10 witnesses to support the case.

The conviction comes as Kenya continues to strengthen efforts to combat terrorism and violent extremism , particularly threats linked to Al-Shabaab, which has been responsible for attacks including the 2013 Westgate Mall attack, the 2015 Garissa University attack and the 2019 DusitD2 complex attack that claimed hundreds of lives.

Kenyan security agencies have also continued operations against Al-Shabaab militants in Somalia under the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM), with several Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) soldiers and police officers losing their lives while fighting the extremist group.

📰 Source: Kenyans.co.ke