‘Al Shabaab brides’ denied bail
Four female suspects who were arrested in Mandera while allegedly travelling to join Al Shabaab militants in Somalia have been denied bond by a Mombasa court.
The four university students who have been dubbed the “Al Shabaab brides” by the media were reportedly nabbed last month on their way to join the fighters in the war-torn country.
Khadija Abdulkadir, Mariam Aboud and Ummulkhayr Abdulla (Tanzanian) and Halima Aden Ali who were arrested on April 3rd in Mandera County on suspicion of being members of the Al Shabaab will stay in custody pending the hearing and determination of their case.
Making his ruling, senior principal magistrate Richard Odenyo said that it would not be wise for the court to consider releasing the four on bail at this moment.
He said the court had put into consideration the applications made by the prosecution against the four women who were arrested by the by the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) in Elwak in Mandera county while on their way to Somalia.
NON-KENYAN CITIZEN
Odenyo said the circumstances surrounding the case were complex and the prosecution had promised to speed up the hearing of the case and had lined up five witnesses who are to testify in the case.
He further urgued that Ummulkhayr was not a Kenyan citizen since she was from Zanzibar which further complicated the issue of bail approval.
Earlier, while submitting an application to deny the four bail, the prosecution had informed the court that the investigations had revealed that the young women were en-route to join the international terror group ISIS in Syria.
The state prosecutor Eugene Wangila had also argued that the diplomatic ties between Kenya and Syria would be jeopardized if the suspects manage to reach Syria while out on bail.
He further said that their release on bail would fuel terror activities in Kenya since they are alleged to have links with terror suspects in the East African region.
The case will be mentioned on June 12 when a hearing date will be fixed.