Two Iranians suspected to be international terrorists have been found guilty of being in possession of 15 kilogrammes of bomb-making material.
Milimani Law Courts chief magistrate Kiarie Waweru Kiarie said Ahmad Abolfathi Mohammed and Sayed Mansour Mousavi “had a purpose for being in Kenya and with the 15 kilogrammes of RDX explosives.”
Mr Kiarie said experts who testified before him said the chemical substance had a higher potential for destruction than any other known chemical explosive.
“Kenyans should thank God for saving our country before the Iranians struck. Were it not for the swift action by the anti-terrorist security agents, who thwarted the Iranians in their tracks before they unleashed mayhem on innocent people, massive destruction would have been occasioned,” Mr Kiarie said when he pronounced his verdict on Thursday shortly after 11am.
The magistrate said: “The quick action by the security agents averted the crime that the two Iranians were coordinating with their unknown accomplices in the country.”
He said that in the past, police have been blamed for failing to stop terrorists before attacks, but this time they acted swiftly. The court thanked the officers for moving fast to arrest the suspects.
“This time round police acted fast and swiftly to bring to book the accused, whom intelligence reports said were linked to an international terror syndicate being tracked across the world by security personnel. They were arrested before they accomplished their mission,” he said in his judgement.
He said the two were “the owners of the 15kg RDX explosives recovered at the Mombasa Golf Course on June 19, 2012.” The two could not explain to the court what they were doing at the golf course on June 15, 2012 when they were confronted by golfers “standing at the T-corner of the vast golf course near Hole 9.”
Mr Kiarie said witnesses pointed to the court when it visited the scene where the RDX had been buried and where the accused were found by golfers.
Before being arrested in Nairobi immediately after they checked out of the Laico Regency Hotel on June 19, 2012, the Iranians had spent almost a week at the Royal Castle Hotel in Mombasa.
The court said the prosecution led by state counsel Edwin Okello and Chief Inspector Nzau Musangi proved “beyond reasonable doubt that the 15kg RDX explosives belonged to the accused.”
“It is Mr Mousavi who led police to point to them where the explosives were buried in a thicket at the golf course well covered with polythene in a canvas bag,” the magistrate said.
Witnesses including taxi drivers and golfers such as Mr Simon Mwangi Wambugu met the accused at Hole 9 at the golf course which was not guarded. He left them standing there.
“It’s not by sheer coincidence that the accused were at the golf course. They had a purpose when they demanded to be taken to Mama Ngina Drive by the taxi operators,” Mr Kiarie said.
“They were in Mombasa for a purpose. The intention was not good,” the magistrate said.
Assistant Commissioner of Police John Mulaulu — who led the anti-terrorist squad that arrested the two — identified the accused as the ones he arrested on June 19, 2012 and confirmed to be the ones who had checked into a Mombasa hotel.
Mr Mulaulu and detectives Kennedy Musyoki and Moses Wachira said they arrested the two in a taxi on Uhuru Highway Nairobi while heading to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
“They were confirmed to be the ones intelligence reports had spoken of as being Iranian terrorists in the country,” Mr Kiarie said. “This court finds you guilty as charged and convicts you accordingly.”
Defence lawyer Karathe Wandugi asked for time until May 6, to prepare their mitigations.
He said Mr Mohammed “is very sick and he has not received his medical records from Iran since his relatives flew into the country yesterday morning.”
The magistrate declined a plea to have the convicts’ relatives visit them at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison.
Kenya has in recent months been rocked by a series of terrorist attacks that have left scores dead. Two of the attacks targeted a church in Nairobi and another in Mombasa.
Another terror attack linked to Al-Shaabab had been carried out in Nairobi’s country bus station. Kamkunji MP Yusuf Hassan was also injured in a blast outside a Nairobi Mosque.
