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JKIA blast suspects granted bail

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A view of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA). The four suspects charged over the suspected terrorist attack at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport have been granted bail. Photo/Jeff Angote/FILE

The four terror suspects charged over the blast at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) have been granted bail.

They will be required to deposit Sh20 million each and provide two Kenyan sureties of similar amount.

While dismissing a request by prosecution to deny the suspects bail on grounds that they were likely to commit more terror attacks and their alleged association with Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militants, Chief Magistrate Doreen Mulekyo said "the prosecution did not tender any tangible evidence to prove its claim.”

Immediately after reading the ruling, the prosecution said it would appeal.

According to an affidavit sworn by a detective from the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit, the four suspects have been travelling to Somalia for militancy training and plotting terror attacks.

The magistrate, however, said no tangible evidence had been adduced in court to prove the allegation except the charge suspects.

“The pain of terror cannot be downplayed. This court is alive to the numerous terrorism attacks that have been committed in and around the country but the prosecution must present hard and cold facts,” the magistrate ruled.

The defence had asked the court to expunge the allegations made in an affidavit seeking to bar the suspects release on bail.

The prosecution had raised fears that the suspects had no fixed residences locally and that they were found in possession of explosives when they were arrested.

The suspects' lawyers argued that these were non-starter allegations as no evidence had been brought before the court and that they were arrested at their respective residences in Nairobi.

The prosecution had also alleged that they had acquired their Kenyan identity cards illegally and they frequently travelled to Somalia such that if released on bail they could be a threat to national security.

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“Bail is a constitutional right and the rights of an accused person can be truncated if they are compelling reasons for doing so. However this court finds no compelling reason as such to deny the suspects their constitutional right, there were no facts presented to justify curtailment of the accused rights," said the magistrate.

The magistrate also ordered the suspects to report to the ATPU every Friday till further orders.