High Court Judge Diana Mochache has slapped Hussein Abdile Ali and Mohamed Abdi Ali with 30 years each behind bars for facilitating and financing the Dusit D2 terror attack.

She said that their facilitation of persons to use weapons and the number of victims were aggravating factors that heightened Abdile’s and Ali’s culpability.

She observed that the emotional scars are embedded in the hearts of those who were either maimed or families that were left without their loved ones.

The judge also said that the probation reports indicated that there was a lingering fear of safety, such that some of the victims declined to be interviewed.

Justice Kavedza stated that the attack was not all about the building but the soul of the country.

“The attack exposed put country as a danger zone. The tourism sector was vulnerable to a negative perception of safety following the Dusit D2 attack,” she observed.

She said it was not a spur-of-the-moment attack. According to her, Abdile deliberately facilitated the movement through

Ali on the other hand, she said, fabricated the death of his brother to hide traces while financing the terrorists.

The judge also found that the attack

“This was a conspiracy that involved several actors,” she said.

Nevertheless, the judge found that they were the first offenders.

“Neither of the convicts was directly involved in the attack,” adding that Abdile was a young person who had a chance of being rehabilitated.

At the same time, Ali, the Judge said, was 61 years old and thus elderly and regarded as an elder.

She, however, agreed with the prosecution that the sentence should be consecutive. According to the judge, a concurrent sentence would not end their criminality. 

The objective is to ensure that the sentence imposed is legally sound but also appropriate for the crime committed. Only a consecutive sentence can address the criminality of the convicts,” she observed.

According to her, even though the end goal was to attack Dusit, there was a life lost, business disruption and dozens maimed.

“Had the two convicts not facilitated and financed the terrorist attack, it would not have happened. Without sympathisers and financiers, terrorism cannot happen,” she said.