KENYA: HIGH COURT QUASHES TERROR SUSPECT'S DEATH SENTENCE

at the High Court in Kenya, Omar Said Omar was acquitted of terrorism charges after being sentenced to hang by senior principle magistrate Rosemelle Mutoka on April 4, 2006. In his ruling Justice J. B. Ojwang accused the police of conducting a shoddy job, as investigations failed to provide substantial proof to convict Omar. Ojwang said the police and the prosecution violated Omar's constitutional rights by holding him in custody for over 2 years before arraigning him in court. Justice Ojwang also chided the police for carrying out a shoddy identification parade as no witness linked Omar to renting the house in which the explosives were discovered. Omar had been linked to the terror bombing of paradise Hotel in Kikambala, Kilifi district on November 28, 2002, where 12 people were killed. Omar was among four Kenyans cleared of murder in 2005 after being detained in connection with the al Qaeda-linked suicide bombing. He was re-arrested and sentenced to eight years for possessing heavy weapons that police said were intended to be used in a possible strike on an airline.