Friday, August 19, 2016
By ALPHONCE MUNG'AHU
A court has allowed police to continue detaining the wife of suspected terrorist Mohammed Abdi for 14 days for the probe to be completed.
They were granted more time after the woman, Nuseiba Haji alias Umm Fiddaand, was charged afresh with trying to pass terrorism material to her husband who is also in custody.
Haji was out on a Sh5 million bond but was arrested on Wednesday while attending a court session. She was charged alongside her husband with planning a biological attack in Kenya using anthrax.
The two were also accused of planning to establish an ISIS cell in Kenya with the help of returnees from Libya.
The prosecution said Haji, a medical intern in Uganda, was found with a memory card containing 133 audio files in Arabic and Somali languages, an adaptor and a notebook which she was to give her husband.
The court denied Abdi bail pending the hearing and determination of their case.
Milimani resident magistrate EledarRiany heard that Haji had been communication with her husband despite facing another criminal case.
Intelligence reports received by the ATPU showed she passed terror-related information through the internet to ISIS and ISIL terrorists.
The prosecution asked the court to decline her request to be released on bail, saying she would jeopardise the arrest of other suspects.
The couple who are still on trial before senior principal magistrate Martha Mutuku have denied other charges of being memberd of a terrorist group and carrying out recruitments.
They have also denied promoting a terrorist act, organising a meeting in support of s terrorist group, having articles connected with the commission of a terrorist act and soliciting for the commission of a terrorist act.
Abdi, who is alleged to be the ISIS leader and a medical doctor at Wote in Makueni county, was arrested on April 29 after police were alerted of a possible terror attack.
The charges against them state that on that date at an unknown place in Kenya, they directed known terrorist Mohamed Adbullahi aka Miski and other unidentified persons to plan for the establishment of an ISIS cell in Kenya.
The two were also charged that on May 6 at ATPU headquarters in Nairobi county, they were found to be members of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
The couple were also charged that on diverse dates between January 1, 2015 and May 1 at unknown place, and with others not before court, they solicited support for the commission of a terror act.
They allegedly did so by offering logistical assistance to ISIS on various social media platforms namely Twitter, KIK, Threema and Teregram.
Abdi was denied bail after the court concurred with the prosecution that he was a flight risk who would not return to court if released on bond.
He was remanded to ATPUcells, following fears by the prosecution that if taken to prison he could interfere with witnesses.
Abdi's terror network within Kenya spreads as far as Coast region, North Rift and Western, as well countries including Somalia, Libya and Syria.
It is alleged that IS recruiters sought medical students and experts with whom they planned to carry out the anthrax attack.
The case will be mentioned on August 29.