Khalid Mohamed when he appeared before a Mombasa court. [Photo/nation.co.ke]
A Mombasa court has freed an Islamic preacher who had been arrested over terror-related activities. The cleric, Mr Khalid Mohamed, was released after the prosecution failed to prove that he had committed the four terror charges leveled against him. In his ruling, Mombasa Principal Magistrate Henry Nyakweba acquitted the suspect who was facing charges of being in possession of IED components, a grenade, property for the commission of a terrorist act and radicalization.The cleric is said to have committed the crime on or about May 26, 2015, at Bondeni in Mombasa. Nyakweba said the prosecution failed to prove the case against the cleric as stipulated under Section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code.The Director of Public Prosecutions, through prosecutor Daniel Wamotsa, however, said that he intends to appeal against the ruling. The court also ruled that the search conducted in a house belonging to the cleric was not undertaken in relation to the laws of the country since the police did not obtain a search warrant.“The police did not have a search warrant. Police have powers but provisions (of the law) have to be followed,” said Nyakweba, as quoted by the Nation.He further said the search would have been conducted during the day since the police did not have a warrant to search the home at night.Magistrate Nyakweba further said that the officer who had obtained the items from the house of the suspect was also not called to testify in the case.The cleric, through his legal team comprising of lawyers Mbugua Mureithi and Japhet Asige argued that he had no case to answer.