Two Garissa University attackers’ sentences are reduced in Kenya

Two defendants who were found guilty of participating in the Garissa University terror attacks in Kenya now face lesser jail terms.

Hassan Edin Hassan and Mohamed Abdi Abikar were cleared of the charge of belonging to the militant group al-Shabab, but High Court Judge Cecilia Githua affirmed their convictions for conspiring to conduct a terrorist act. They now have 25 and a half years instead of 41 years to serve in jail.

Richard Tuya, a security expert based in Nairobi, claims that the decision represents a setback in the war against terrorism.

Terrorists are logical decision-makers who weigh the costs and benefits of their acts. As a result, he claimed, if the punishment is less severe than the cost, it would be advantageous to them. This verdict is making terrorism in our nation an alluring business.

The two received sentences of 25 and a half years and 15 and a half years, respectively, from a lower court in 2019 for conspiring to commission and perform a terrorist attack and for belonging to al-Shabab.

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The judge ruled on Friday that the two terrorists’ convictions should stand because there was insufficient evidence to support their membership in the paramilitary organisation, overturning the convictions for being members of al-Shabab.

While 148 people were killed in the 2015 assaults at Garissa University, according to Tuya, the judgement disregards their relatives.

“To me, it seems like a parody, but now you can’t blame the courts since also the court relies on evidence that has been submitted before it,” he added.

The court maintained the circumstantial evidence provided by the prosecution and sentenced the two convicted individuals to 25 and a half years in prison, stating that it was clear from it that they were both aware of the assault plan and were the ones who carried it out in its entirety.

Garissa University was invaded by four shooters in 2015, who began shooting at random and killed 148 people.

The militant organisation al-Shabab, which has its headquarters in Somalia, subsequently claimed that Kenya’s deployment of troops to Somalia was the driving force for the attack on Kenya.