By Andrew Wasike
NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – A Kenyan court sentenced two people to 30 years in prison each for their involvement in the 2019 luxury hotel attack in Nairobi, which killed 21 people, including an American and a British.
In delivering her verdict on Thursday evening, Justice Diana Kavedza stated that she is fully convinced by the prosecution's evidence, asserting that it met the strict legal requirement for guilt beyond a reasonable doubt about the involvement of Mohamed Abdi (61) and Hussein Abdille (22) in the 2019 Dusit D2 hotel and office complex terror attack.
The two were convicted of assisting the attackers, including facilitating logistics and shelter, during the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab terror group's claimed attack on the upscale hotel complex in the capital's Westlands neighborhood.
Each was sentenced to 15 years in prison for facilitating a terrorist act, as well as an additional 15 years for conspiracy to commit an offense in violation of Section 23(2) as read with Section 23(4) of the Prevention of Terrorist Act. The court ordered that the sentences run consecutively, resulting in a total of 30 years in prison for each convict.
The sentencing is one of the most significant rulings in Kenya's counter-terrorism prosecutions in recent years, following a lengthy trial and investigation conducted by the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The January 15, 2019, attack shocked the nation when gunmen and a suicide bomber stormed the Dusit D2 complex, resulting in an hours-long security operation and drawing international condemnation.
The prolonged siege claimed the lives of 21 civilians, including several Kenyan nationals, one American citizen, and a British-South African dual national, as well as a General Service Unit officer, while security forces killed all five attackers.