Westgate Attack; 7 Years Down A Verdict To Be Reached Soon
On Saturday, 21 September 2013, four masked gunmen attacked the Westgate shopping mall, an upscale mall in Kenya. There are conflicting reports about the number killed in the attack, since part of the mall collapsed due to a fire that started during the siege. The attack resulted in 71 total deaths, including 62 civilians, five Kenyan soldiers, and four attackers. Approximately 200 people were wounded in the mass shooting
A Nairobi Magistrate’s Court was set to rule on the verdict of three terror suspects accused of roles in the 2013 terror attack at Westgate Shopping Mall in Nairobi. The verdict was due Monday, but was postponed, again, by Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi who said it will be ready at 2pm on Tuesday.
He ordered the accused persons Mohamed Abdul, Liban Abdallah Omar and Hussein Hassan Mustafa to be sent back to remand prison pending the verdict which will determine if they were guilty of the attack or not.
Mr Ahmed Abdi, Mr Liban Omar and Mr Hussein Mustafa were put on their defence by Nairobi Chief Magistrate Francis Andayi. The court freed a fourth accused, Mr Adan Dheg. The four had been jointly and separately charged with conspiracy to commit a terrorist act, among other charges.
If found guilty, the trio faces long jail terms. The three were put on their defence in January 2019, when the court found that they had a case to answer, and required them to defend themselves in the trial.
At the time, the fourth accused person Adan Dheq was acquitted for lack of evidence to link him to the attack that left 67 people dead in the September 21, 2013 attack that shocked the world and which was blamed on Al Shabaab. The four had been jointly and separately accused of conspiracy to commit a terrorist act among other charges. Abdi faces an additional charge of being a member of Al Shabaab.
