Kenyan man sentenced to 3 years in prison for having terror videos

A 24 year-old man was on Tuesday sentenced to three years in prison for having terror-related videos.

Mr Abdala Mustafa was given the option of a Sh50,000 fine in the ruling delivered by Kisumu Senior Resident Magistrate Stella Telewa.

Ms Telewa ruled that although Mr Mustafa did not appear in the videos, he had articles connected to commission of an act of terrorism.

“It is evident that the videos were downloaded. What is not clear is why the accused downloaded them if he did not need them,” she said.

The magistrate also noted that the accused did not explain why he accepted to be a member of a terrorism group on WhatsApp and not to alert authorities.

Charges

Mr Mustafa was arrested and charged with being a member of a terrorist group, contrary to section 24 of the Prevention of Terrorism Act of 2012.

He faced the alternative charge of having the article, contrary to section 390 of the same law.

The court heard that on June 17, 2018 in Kisumu township, Mr Mustafa was found with a mobile phone which had nine videos that were articles for commission of a terrorist act.

He was arrested and charged later before Resident Magistrate Rose Ndombi.

At the time, the accused denied the charge and was released on Sh300,000 bond or Sh50,000 cash bail.

Witnesses

The three witnesses who testified against Mr Mustafa told the courts that he did not dispute being the owner of the phone.

One said he was a member of a WhatsApp group with message that encouraged youths to join terror group Al-Shabaab.

In his defence, Mr Mustafa said he got the videos from a group which shared terrorism-related context and did not know it was criminal.

He pleaded for forgiveness before Tuesday’s ruling.