Post date: May 06, 2013 2:41:49 PM
A Kenyan court sentenced two Iranian men to life in prison after they were found guilty of possessing 15 kg of explosives.
NAIROBI, KENYA (MAY 06, 2013)(REUTERS) - A Kenyan court sentenced two Iranian men to life in prison on Monday (May 06) for planning to carry out bombings in Nairobi and other cities last year.
Ahmad Mohammed and Sayed Mousavi were found guilty last week of planning the attacks and also possessing 15 kg of explosives. They were arrested in Nairobiin June.Their sentence was read out to them by Nairobi Chief Magistrate Kiarie Waweru, who said according to a prosecution expert witness, the explosives could have brought down Nairobi's tallest building.
"I have considered the mitigation of each accused as was ably presented to the court by their counsel, I have considered their individual health status. However I am alive to the evidence of Catherine Serah Mugambi PW-16, who said that the 15 kilogrammes of RDX was capable of bringing down tall buildings such as the Times Tower. I shudder to imagine the amount of life and property that would have forever been destroyed." said Waweru.
Kenyan investigators said at the time of their arrest that it was unclear whether the pair had ties to al Qaeda-linked militants in Somalia or were part of another network.
"Even as I hear the accused persons mitigating and crying for mercy, there is even a louder cry by victims of previous terrorist attacks, the orphans, widows and widowers due to such heinous attacks, all are crying for justice. I therefore sentence each accused to serve life imprisonment in count one, 10 years in count two and 15 years imprisonment in count three, the sentences will run concurrently, right of appeal in 14 days." said Waweru.
Their lawyers said the two, who had both pleaded not guilty, would appeal their sentence.
Dozens of people were killed last year in a spate of bombings and attacks in the capital, the port city of Mombasa and the frontier region with Somalia.
The Kenyan government mostly blamed those incidents on the Somali al Shabaab rebels.
Kenyan troops have been battling inside Somalia as part of a peacekeeping force.