Court to decide if Lawyer Chacha Mwita will be held for terrorism probe

Lawyer Chacha Mwita will tomorrow know whether he will be detained for 20 days to allow the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) complete investigations into alleged terror financing allegations.

Mwita who was presented yesterday at the Kahawa Law Courts spent the night at the Inland Container Depot (ICD) police station in Embakasi, Nairobi County.

He was arrested on Friday in Nyali, Mombasa County after a court session and was moved to Nairobi that night and held at the ICD police station.

Kahawa Magistrate Gideon Kiage said that he will deliver his ruling tomorrow at 2pm.

The state in their application want the lawyer held as ATPU probe alleged Mwita links to terrorism financing.

Led by prosecutors James Machirah, Harrison Kiarie and Kennedy Amwayi said that investigations had shown that Mwita allegedly received money inform of bitcoin from an account of an individual designated as a terrorist entity.

They said that the investigating officer Inspector Kevin Kasango needed more time to exploit two phones and two laptops that were with Mwita during his arrest.

The state said that its investigators need to confirm whether the money received by the lawyer was for the commission of terrorist acts, hence the prayer for 20 days.

“The Respondent is believed to have serious links to a network of terrorist recruiters targeting Kenyan and Tanzanian nationals for radicalisation and recruitment into terrorism activities,” said Inspector Kasango in his affidavit.

Prosecutors said that investigations were ongoing locally and internationally and several suspects connected to Mwita were yet to be arrested and his release would jeopardise the investigation.

Mwita’s lawyer led by Mbugua Mureithi opposed the application for his detention arguing that the state had not presented enough evidence to warrant him being behind bars for that time.

He said that the money Mwita is alleged to have received was legal fees paid by his clients to his mobile.

Mureithi questioned why the said Binance account where Mwita is alleged to have gotten the money from had not been named in court and that the prosecution was hiding behind ‘an unknown entity’.

 “Those we come before you [court] to represent must pay us, both designated or undesignated,” he said.

He questioned why police had not stated the amount of money that Mwita received.

Mureithi said that the defence team would be open to have their client detained further if it’s showed that he got the money but and where the money went.

They argued that the allegation by the prosecution that Mwita was associated with local and international networks but had not shown which ones.

The defense team informed court that their client knew that he was being investigated by police from as early as June this year.

Mureithi said that since the police had his electronic gadgets to obtain evidence linking him to the crimes yet the evidence has not been shown.

“After the police arrested Mr Chacha they held a press conference in Mombasa…If there is anyone who could have alerted the accomplices it’s the police and prosecution,” said Mureithi in regard to the application.

He accused the police of lying that they don’t know where the accused lives yet they could trace money that he allegedly received.

Lempaa Suiyanka in his submissions said that the police were on a fishing expedition as they did not have any anything linking Mwita to the alleged crimes.

Alex Kubo argued that he had not consented for the exploitation of his devices adding that he was not consulted and not evidence had been tabled to show that he had.

Machira said that the state had produced enough evidence to warrant Mwita’s detention.

He said that the Mwita transacted with a terrorist designated entity through two of his phone numbers.

Mutual legal assistance from Zambia, Congo, Uganda, Tanzania and Somalia.

He secured the move by the defence team to ask the court to consider that Mwita is a lawyer was a move to hoodwink the court into releasing.

“Allow the investigators to bring you the picture.”

Kairie said that the state had shown there was probable cause to detain Mwita as investigators complete their probe.