NAIROBI, Kenya — The Kenyan doctor who was arrested last week in Malindi over allegations of being a terror suspect was on Thursday released by a Nairobi court for lack of evidence.
A Nairobi Court has ruled that the prosecution has failed to provide enough evidence to charge and prosecute the doctor over the alleged links with the international terror network Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Allin Abdigan had been remanded in Nairobi on Monday to allow police more time to complete investigations on the claims.
The doctor, who is attached at the Malindi General Hospital, was arrested at his Sea Breeze home in Malindi last Friday by the Kenya anti-terror police unit.
The Nairobi court has directed the prosecution to return the doctor’s personal belongings which includes a laptop, several mobile phones among other things that had been confiscated by police for investigation.
Police said they recovered unnamed material from the 35-year old doctor attached to the Malindi hospital during the operation.
During the arrest Matawa Muchangi, the acting Kilifi county police commander, confirmed the arrest, saying the suspect was an accomplice of two medical interns – Mohamed Shukri Yerrow and Abdulrazak Abdinuur – who were arrested at the hospital in August in connection with ISIS.
“Acting on information, a multi-agency team raided a house at 2am and arrested the doctor suspected to be involved in terrorism activities,” he said.
Mr Muchangi said the suspect had escaped a police dragnet when the two medical students were arrested.
The two interns were arrested by a team of Anti-Terror Police Unit (ATPU) acting on a tip-off. They are both studying medicine at Saratov State Medical University in Russia. Four interns were arrested from the same hospital in 2015 for allegedly planning to join ISIS.
(Reported by Richard Mbaya; Editing by Omar Nor & Robyn Hunter)
