Thursday, May 21, 2015
Police have asked a Mombasa court for time to ascertain claims that a man charged with being a member of Al-Shabaab had died.
The accused, Mr Ibrahim Mohamed Abdi was among 28 people arrested last year at the then troubled Masjid Musa Mosque.
He faced seven charged including being a member of Al-Shabaab, possession of fire arms, ammunitions and articles related to terrorism.
He was arrested among those arrested in the Mosque on February 2, 2014.
Prosecutor Simon Waithaka said news of Mr Abdi’s death is “an allegation which needs to be ascertained, otherwise, the warrant of arrest remains in force.”
He said police were not shown the body and could also not verify whether the accused had died despite meeting the area chief, his assistant and a village elder.
“We seek for three weeks to investigate to confirm the matter and will inform court once we get the information,” he said.
Mr Abdi’s lawyer Chacha Mwita had told the court that his client had died and produced the death certificate and burial permit.
“The investigating officer had failed because he met the chief who issued the burial permit and had all the time to verify the death certificate after getting the information on September 16, 2014,’’ said the lawyer.
The case will be mentioned on July 9.