Two terror suspects found guilty of attempting to bomb Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi will spend 19 years each behind bars.
In the ruling delivered in mid-February, Milimani Court Senior Principal Magistrate Zainab Abdul found Abdimajit Hassan Adan and Mohammed Osman Nane guilty of nine counts that included being members of the terror group al Shabaab.
A third suspect who was found guilty of faking identification cards for the duo was sentenced to three years.
"There is no doubt the offense committed was serious in nature," the judge ruled.
The two had been sentenced to 25 years in prison but the judge noted that they would only serve 19 since they had already covered the other six during the trial period.
Other counts they had been accused of included; possession of firearms, possession of weapons for terrorist purposes, and forgery of the Kenyan National IDs.
The first two had been accused of trying to bomb the courts using a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED). If the bomb exploded, it could have caused damage to an area with a 100-meter radius.
In her earlier ruling the judge concluded that the prosecution had proved the case beyond reasonable doubt through the testimonies of the 50 witnesses produced in court.
According to testimonies, the court heard that the team was motivated to carry out the bombing in an effort to free a Sheikh who was to be arraigned in the court precincts for plea-taking.
“The respondents were headed to launch an attack at the Milimani Chief Magistrate court on February 16 when the Sheikh was expected to appear in court to take a plea in terrorism and related charges and the attack was meant to illegally free him from custody,” read an affidavit filed in 2018.
Court documents showed that the suspects were arrested between February 15 and February 23, 2018.
Two of them were arrested in Isiolo County at a time when they were allegedly transporting a wide range of weapons to Nairobi to carry out the attack.
