A magistrate has temporarily halted hearing of a case after a suspect on terrorism charges together with an accomplice, who is her sister, were caught surveying the courtroom and arrested.
Ms Feruz Hamid Abubakar and Shamsa Abubakar were arrested by Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) after they were allegedly found drawing a sketch of the courtroom in a Mombasa court.
The two, who sat waiting for the court session to begin, were allegedly found sketching a layout of the courtroom in their mobile phones, which were confiscated upon arrest.
EXPLOSIVE BOOSTERS
Ms Hamid is facing nine terror-related charges including being in possession of detonators and explosive boosters.
The suspect’s lawyer, Chacha Mwita, termed the arrests unconstitutional and asked the court to intervene. He argued that the suspects were not informed the reasons for their arrests.
“We have not been informed why they have been arrested and their phones confiscated. We have not seen a court order allowing the police to make any arrest,” he said.
Mr Mwita wanted the puzzle resolved before hearing could proceed, saying it had a bearing on the case.
BALLISTIC EXPERTS
State Counsel Eugene Wangila, however, asked the court to ignore the matter and proceed with the hearing of the case.
But Mombasa Senior Principal Magistrate Henry Nyakweba agreed with Mr Mwita and ordered the officer in charge of security at the courts to file a comprehensive report on the arrests.
Prosecution had lined up three witnesses to testify in the matter. The witnesses included a ballistics expert and officer from mobile service provider Safaricom.
The case will be mentioned on August 31.