Five Garissa terrorist attack suspects to be held for 30 more days, court rules

From left: Sahal Diriye Hussein, Hassan Aden Hassan, Mohamed Abdi Abikar, Rashid Charles Mberesero, aka Rehani Dida, and Osman Abdi Dakane at Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi, May 7, 2015, during the mention of their case. The five are being held in connection with the April 2, 2015 Garissa University College terrorist attack. PHOTO | PAUL WAWERU | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

In Summary

• The five were arrested in connection with the April 2 invasion at the university in which 148 people, among them 142 students, were killed.
• Prosecutor said several leads were being followed and an additional 30 days were reasonable as the Prevention of Terrorism Act allows detention for a total of 90 days.
• The suspects opposed the request for extended detention but were told the matter “was serious and related to an attack in which over 100 people were killed."

By VINCENT AGOYA
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Five suspects held over the Garissa University College terrorist attack will spend a second month in police custody pending investigations, a Nairobi court has ruled.

This follows a fresh request for extended custodial orders against Osman Abdi Dakane, Rashid Charles Mberesero, alias Rehani Dida, Mohammed Abdi Abikar, Hassan Aden Hassan and Sahal Diriye Hussein.

The five were arrested in connection with the April 2 invasion at the university in which 148 people, among them 142 students, were killed.

An earlier detention order granted to the police to finalise investigations before charging the suspects expired on Thursday.

However, one of the men held alongside the suspects has since been released from police custody, while more than 10 other suspects have been arrested following intensive interrogations, the prosecution said on Thursday.

The court was told the released suspect, who was an employee at a hotel where the terrorist ate, was set free after investigations revealed "that the attackers fed at the hotel without his knowledge."

"So far the phone data belonging to the suspects in custody have been analysed and they do reflect that they are directly connected to the Al-Shabaab group in Somalia," prosecutor Daniel Karuri told the court.

CALL DATA RECORDS

He said the call data records show that the suspects made calls to suspected Al-Shabaab agents within and outside the country prior to the attack.

'The investigators require to interrogate the persons whom the calls were made to and who were in constant communication with the suspects," the prosecutor said.

He said it has been impossible to cover the far-flung regions including Somalia and Mandera and Garissa within the initial thirty days that the court granted.

Mr Karuri told the court that investigators have so far been able to travel to Tanzania where one of the suspects, Mberesero, comes from and “his parents and relatives were unable to explain when he disappeared from home."

"Investigations are ongoing in regard to detailed forensic examinations of the scene of crime at the university, including extraction of mobile phone records," the prosecutor said.

He said several leads were being followed and an additional 30 days were reasonable as the Prevention of Terrorism Act allows detention for a total of 90 days.

"Once investigations are complete we expect to charge the suspects with terrorism-related offences," Mr Karuri told the court.

The suspects opposed the request for extended detention but were told the matter “was serious and related to an attack in which over 100 people were killed."

Principal Magistrate Kenneth Cheruyoit ordered the suspected detained till June 4 in various undisclosed police stations in the city.