The Kahawa Anti-Terror Court has sentenced two convicts to serve 30 years for facilitating a terrorist attack at the Dusit D2 Hotel Complex in Nairobi in 2019.
In a ruling delivered on Thursday, Lady Justice Diana Kavedza sentenced 61-year-old Mohamed Abdi Ali to 15 years for the 14 charges of facilitating a terrorist act and an additional sentence of 15 years for the charges of Conspiracy to commit an offence.
His accomplice, 22-year-old Hussein Abdille Ali was also sentenced to serve 30 years for the same charges which will run consecutively.
The two men were linked to the terrorist attack at Dusit D2 Hotel Complex in Nairobi which claimed the lives of 21 people and left several others with dire injuries.
The Lady justice ruled that the prosecution team led by Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Duncan Ondimu, had provided satisafactory evidence against the two convicts.
In court proceedings, the prosecution team had presented 45 witnesses to give an account of what transpired and uncover the truth in the terrorist attack.
One of the witnesses, American national Joseph Spindler recounted how his son, Jason Spindler, lost his life in the incident.
“Your honour, I’m not here for revenge but for justice. Under Kenyan law, those who collaborated with terrorists must face the full weight of justice. Jason was a survivor, a doer and a visionary. He deserved a future, not a grave marked by the shrapnel from a terrorist’s suicide vest,” Spindler stated.
The court also heard that the Dusit D2 Hotel bore the brunt of the attack after occupancy rates declined to 55 per cent and human traffic reduced to 200 people daily.
The Assistant DPP pleaded with the court to grant the maximum sentence to the convicts to serve as a lesson and deter against future acts of terrorism.
In her judgment, Lady Justice noted that the ruling would speak for the survivors who deserve closure after six years.
“What followed was one of the most comprehensive counter terrorism investigations in Kenya’s history, as law enforcement agencies pursued not only the attackers’ immediate associates but also financiers, facilitators and logistical coordinators who enabled the attack,” she ruled.
