Two defendants were convicted during the trial of the attack on the Westgate shopping center in Nairobi, Kenya, in September 2013. The third was acquitted.
From our correspondent in Nairobi
Seven years as a family awaited this judgment. After five suspensions and more than three hours of reading, Judge Francis Andayi finally declared two of the three guilty suspects of “conspiracy”, “support” or even “possession of objects linked to an act of terrorism”.
The first, Mohamed Ahmed Abdi, taught Islam in Nairobi. According to the investigation, he was in close contact with one of the terrorists. They would have called each other 226 times in the three months prior to the attack. A computer with videos of handling weapons and calling for jihad was found on him. He would also have hosted one of the shebabs. In addition, Mohamed Ahmed Abdi has always claimed that the terrorist was his brother-in-law, that he did not know his plans, and that the computer did not belong to him.
The other, Hussein Hassan Mustaffah, is a Somali refugee in Kenya who sold clothes. He also exchanged dozens of calls with one of Westgate attackers. He explained that he was a childhood friend and that they mostly talked about football. Lots of conversations with the other condemned Somali, “talking about business,” he said.
The judge found them guilty. For him, it is not necessary to prove that there was a formal agreement with the shebabs, that they had met them or that they knew each other. Francis Andayi felt that the evidence was sufficient to dispel any doubts. He will pronounce their verdict on October 22.
Lebanon Abdullah Omar, a third accused, was acquitted. After seven years in prison, he therefore left the room at the end of the hearing as a free man. Also, he had had many conversations with a member of the command who was actually his brother.
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