Four terror suspects who were acquitted on Monday (Photo / business daily)
Four terror suspects who had been detained for the last four years over a blast at Java House at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) have been freed by the courts over lack of sufficient evidence.The four, Messrs Hassan Abdi Mohammed, Mohammed Osman Ali, Yusuf Warsame and Gerad Hassan Ali were freed by chief magistrate Roselyn Onganyo who said that the prosecution had failed to link them to the attack at the Java shop but only depended on circumstantial evidence.State prosecutor Duncan Ondimu argued that the magistrate failed to analyse CCTV footage presented and did consider the photographs and other evidence that linked the accused to the incident.However, defence lawyers Mbugua Mureithi and Ishmael Nyaribo welcomed the ruling and told the court that the case had already been determined and the accused should not be given a stay after judgement as requested by the prosecution since “It amounts to detention of the already freed suspects.”From the case a vehicle that belonged to Hassan Abdi was recovered by the police. Mr Abdi admitted that he used the vehicle to conduct taxi business and that on the material day (January 16, 2014) he had hired it out to Mr Osman.The magistrate acquired the four under provisions of section 215 of Criminal procedure; failure of the state to prove the case and directed all explosives handed to the state.