3 Garissa University Attack Suspects Convicted and Imprisoned

Milimani law court convicted three suspects and imprisoned them after it proved that they were involved in the gruesome Garissa university terror attack that claimed 148 lives in 2015.

The court came to this decision after being convinced that the suspects were involved in the attack either directly or indirectly.

One of the suspects, Rashid Charles Mberesero, was sentenced to life imprisonment as evidence showed that he was at the scene of the crime.

“The (fifth) accused person had indicated he was going to join Al-Shabaab in Somalia and he was found at the scene of the crime. I sentence him to life imprisonment for committing a terrorist act, “the Milimani Court Chief Magistrate, Francis Andayi, ruled.

Mohammed Abikar and Hassan Edin Hassan were handed 41-year jail term each as evidence against them did not make them principal offenders but secondary offenders.

Meanwhile the prosecuting counsel, Duncan Ondimu was against the ruling as he proposed that the three should have been sentenced to sixty-years instead, considering the nature and the effects of the crime they committed.

Mr. Ondimu argued in his statement, “The students who died, the injury was clearly stated in the postmortem report and as the court pointed out, they died a gruesome death. This clearly shows that the attackers and the convicts’ actions were clearly premeditated.”

He also urged the court to consider the weapons the terrorists used and the pain inflicted to the victims, the number of lives lost and even the people affected, this was not to be taken lightly by any means.

In the defense of the two offenders (Abikar and Hassan), lawyer Mbugua Mureithi argued that the two were not actual offenders who pulled the triggers to the victims and that owing to the life expectancy of 60 years, a 60-year jail sentence was too harsh as it equals life imprisonment.

The Garissa University attack remains the second deadliest terror attack in Kenya after the 1998 bombing that claimed 213 lives.