Court dismisses appeal by Kenya terror attack convicts

AKenyan court has dismissed an appeal by two men who are serving long sentences for their role in the 2015 Garissa University College attack, which left 148 people dead.

Judge Cecilia Githua said Hassan Edin Hassan and Mohammed Abdi Abikar would spend 41 years in jail as their appeal had not shown that the magistrates’ court had erred in giving out the long sentences

The two Kenyans were convicted in 2019, while Rashid Mberesero, a Tanzanian national, received a life sentence before taking his own life in 2020.

They were all found guilty of conspiracy to commit a terrorist attack and of belonging to the alQaeda linked group, al-Shabab, but they appealed against the magistrates’ court ruling.

But in her ruling, the high court judge said the punishment was lenient considering the “heinous, premeditated acts that caused much suffering to families of the victims”

The two can appeal against the judgement in the Court of Appeal within two weeks.

The attack at the university which killed mainly students, was the second-deadliest attack by the group in Kenya.

The al-Qaeda bombing of the US embassy in 1998 killed more than 200 people.

This case has been long-running and beset by many adjournments since the convicts were arrested soon after the April 2015 attack at the university.

And today was no different, the court was briefly disrupted as the judge delivered her judgement via video link, after her connection was lost.

The convicts, who were listening silently to the ruling from prison, briefly chatted to each other as the court waited for the judge to get back online.

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has ordered a probe into reports of abuses by the police units deployed to disperse peaceful protests in the capital Maputo on Saturday.

He ordered the interior ministry

South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), on Thursday voted against a motion for an inquiry into alleged widespread corruption at the state power firm Eskom.

The state utility firm has been to “investigate the reasons that led the police to engage in physical confrontations with the youths”, stateowned Radio Mozambique reported.

Local media reported that authorities used tear gas, rubber bullets and dog units to repress at the centre of rampant corruption accusations allegedly involving top ANC officials - amid a energy crisis in the country.

A tolal of 201 ANC members of parliament voted against the motion - againt 115 opposition members marches in tribute to the late rapper Azagaia, in Nampula, Beira, Xai-Xai and Maputo cities on Saturday.

Civil society organisations, which denounced the brutal repression by the police, said dozens of protesters sustained severe injuries, and more who voted for it.

The ruling party legislators argued the parliament’s oversight mechanism and the appointment of an electricity minister were enough to address all the issues.

The motion had been tabled by than 100 people were arrested countrywide.

On Thursday, Mr Nyusi urged the police to resort to dialogue to find common ground that will allow the citizens to exercise their rights and the police to perform its duties.