A Nairobi court has sentenced Ibrahim Hussein Hassan to a combined 115 years in prison after convicting him on seven terrorism-related offences, including membership in the outlawed Al-Shabaab group and possession of extremist materials.
The conviction followed a prosecution by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), which said it presented sufficient evidence to prove the charges beyond reasonable doubt.
The prosecution team, led by Principal Prosecution Counsel Kennedy Amwayi and Principal Prosecution Counsel Harrison Kiarie, with the assistance of Prosecution Counsel Fatuma Ahmed, called 10 witnesses during the trial.
The court also found that extremist propaganda videos recovered from Hassan's mobile phone supported the prosecution's case. In addition to the prison term, the court ordered that he undergo a deradicalisation programme while serving his sentence.
The case was heard before Principal Magistrate Gideon Kiage at the Kahawa Law Courts.
"The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has obtained a combined 115-year prison sentence against Ibrahim Hussein Hassan after he was convicted on seven terrorism-related offences. Prosecution, led by Principal Prosecution Counsel Kennedy Amwayi and Principal Prosecution Counsel Harrison Kiarie, assisted by Prosecution Counsel Fatuma Ahmed, called 10 witnesses whose evidence proved the case beyond reasonable doubt." The ODPP said in a statement.
The court sentenced Hassan to 20 years' imprisonment after convicting him of being a member of the proscribed terrorist organisation Al-Shabaab.
He was also handed 20-year prison terms on each of three counts of collecting information connected with the commission of a terrorist act, contrary to Section 29 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2012.
On three additional counts of possessing articles connected with the commission of a terrorist act, the court imposed 15-year prison terms for each offence.
According to the ODPP, "Principal Magistrate Gideon Kiage sentenced Hassan to 20 years' imprisonment for being a member of the outlawed terrorist group Al-Shabaab. At the Kahawa Law Courts, Hassan was further sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment on each of the three counts of collecting information connected with the commission of a terrorist act. On the remaining three counts of possession of articles connected with the commission of a terrorist act, the court imposed 15 years' imprisonment on each count. All the sentences run concurrently."
The prosecution said the offences arose from Hassan's arrest on September 6, 2022, in Eastleigh Section III, Nairobi County.
Investigators alleged he was a member of Al-Shabaab, an organisation outlawed in Kenya under Gazette Notice No. 2326 of April 7, 2015.
The court found that evidence recovered from the accused's mobile phone supported the prosecution's case.
"In convicting the accused, Kiage held that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt. The court found that a forensic examination of a Samsung mobile phone recovered from Hassan revealed three videos containing radical extremist terrorist propaganda capable of recruiting, training and radicalising young people," the ODPP said.
In addition to the prison sentence, the court directed that Hassan undergo a deradicalisation programme while serving his custodial term.