A Mombasa Court on Tuesday afternoon jailed father and son for life after they were accused of harbouring Al-Qaeda terrorist, Fazul Mohammed, who was the mastermind of the 1998 bombings in Nairobi.
Fazul, who was killed in Somalia in 2011, was also reported to be behind the Kikambala Paradise terrorist attack of 2002.
Mahfudh Ashur Hemed and his son Ibrahim Mahfudh Ashur were charged with knowingly accommodating and supporting a terrorist in Malindi.
They were found guilty of four counts, the most notable ones being accessories to murder and harbouring a terrorist; for which they were sentenced to life in prison.
The counts included being accessories to murder following the death of 219 people in Nairobi in 1998, being accessories to murder following the death of 15 people in Kikambala in 2002 and being guilty of stealing a Kenyan passport belonging to Ali Mohammed Abu-Bakr, for which they were fined Ksh 10,000 or six months in prison.
The development of the court was after evidence of DNA samples of the terrorist were found on an electric shaver in their home.
Chief Magistrate Evans Makori delivered the court ruling.
There was an argument from the defense that the two were first-time offenders and were remorseful of what had transpired.
Their lawyer, Richard Magolo argued, “The first accused person is a 59-year-old man who has been regretting what happened. He has been very remorseful and apart from that he has been presenting himself to this court for 11 years of this trial.”
The arguments did not, however, move the judge to show the accused any form of leniency.
Makori held that the case against the two was proven beyond any doubts that they knowingly aided and abetted a terrorist.
The prosecution also asked the court to prescribe the maximum possible sentences against the individuals in light of the evidence presented.
Prosecutor Eugene Mangila reiterated, “We ask the court for maximum sentencing of the two because they hosted a person who was responsible for the death of 219 people during the 1998 Nairobi bombing.”
