DP Ruto-linked Turk Harun Aydin deported, say lawyers

Harun Aydin, the Turkish national who was detained by security on Saturday at Wilson Airport after jetting in from Uganda, has been deported.

His lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi, accompanied by Kapsaret legislator Oscar Sudi, confirmed the development to reporters on Monday.

Mr Aydin was expected at Kahawa Law Courts in Kiambu to answer to terrorism charges. 

"We will fight his deportation and he will come back either this year or next year. He is not a terrorist," Mr Ahmednasir said. 

Mr Sudi faulted the government for targeting the businessman, saying there was no evidence of his alleged terror-related crimes.

Mr Aydin was part of the team scheduled to accompany Deputy President William Ruto to Uganda before the trip aborted. Dr Ruto was dramatically blocked from boarding a flight to the neighbouring country for not seeking clearance as all civil servants should.

'Terror suspect' 

The Kenyan government has since branded the Turkish national a terror suspect whose presence in the country is under interrogation, but DP Ruto has termed the whole fiasco “nonsense, stupidity and foolish”.

He noted that the Turkish Embassy has issued a statement saying Mr Aydin is a holder of a valid work permit issued by the government of Kenya, an investor and a contributor to economic development.

Dr Ruto said: "That is how we are destroying Kenya...by dragging political nonsense even to investors said to be close to me."

Multiple sources indicated that Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) detectives were initially seeking to hold Mr Aydin for more time to allow them conclude investigations into his alleged involvement in terrorist financing.

Sources said police were also looking to establish how the foreigner has been making trips into and out of Kenya without having his visa imprinted with the requisite stamps.

This year, the Turk, whose mission to Kenya was not immediately clear, has reportedly made six trips originating from Istanbul, Cairo and Addis.

A Turkish embassy official in Nairobi has maintained that Mr Aydin has no criminal record back home and that he has in the past travelled to Nairobi on many occasions as an ‘investor’.

The official, however, declined to divulge the nature of his business interests in the country.

Additional reporting by Mary Wambui and Macharia Mwangi