Kenyan court denies 4 terror suspects bail

A Kenyan court on Wednesday declined to grant bail to four key suspects in connection with the deadly terrorist attack on the Westgate mall on Sept. 21. Chief magistrate Kiarie Waweru said that prosecution had given convincing reasons to reject the bail application by the four accused persons. Kiarie ruled that the public interest necessitated that they remain in custody in the wake of recent terror attacks in the East African nation. "It is in public interest that the accused remain in custody. Since the identity of the third accused is still unknown, there are compelling reasons to withhold bail," Kiarie said. The four suspects are Mohammed Ahmed Abdi, Liban Abdullah Omar, Ibrahim alias Adan Dheq and Hussein Hassan Mustafah. The four Somali nationals faced a total of seven counts when they first appeared before acting chief magistrate Dolphin Okundi in Nairobi. State counsel Mungai Warui told the court that the four jointly with others allegedly supported and carried out a terrorist attack at Westgate shopping mall on Sept. 21. But on Wednesday, the magistrate said he was in agreement with objection by the prosecution led by senior state counsel James Mungai Warui that there had been numerous terror attacks in the country and releasing the accused persons could deter the justice process. He said that the prosecution had also informed the court that investigations were still underway and that the accused had no fixed residence since they were refugees. "Every person whether a Kenyan or foreigner has a right to be released on bail but at the same time court has a right to ensure public safety is catered for in its decisions," the magistrate ruled. Kiarie ordered that the accused persons be remanded until Dec. 18 when their case will be mentioned before the trial magistrate "This position has been reviewed later before the trial court on Dec. 18," Kiarie said, upholding the objections raised by the prosecution for the release of the suspects on bail The prosecution accuses the four suspects of carrying out a terror act and that they committed the offenses jointly with others who were not in court. Abdi, Mustafah and Omar were separately accused of knowingly supporting Mohammed Abdinur Said, Hassan Dhuhullow and others in committing the terror attack. Dheq was further accused of harboring terror suspects, obtaining registrations of identity cards by false pretenses and being in the East African nation illegally. The prosecution told the magistrate that on or before Oct. 7 at Salman al-Farsi Madrassa along Muyuyu Avenue Eastleigh, which is largely inhabited by Kenyans of Somali origin, he knowingly harbored Abdikadir Hared Mohammed, a terror suspect.