Man sues State over alleged secret terror blacklist

A man has moved to court, seeking to compel the government to remove him from the terrorist blacklist.

In his case, Abdalla Abdlkadir Mohamed claims that he has been going through untold pain for the last six years.

Mohamed, who hails from Lamu County, has sued the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Inspector General of Police, the Director of Immigration and the Attorney General, saying that since 2019, whenever he arrives at an airport or a border, he is stopped and referred to the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU).

He told the High Court that he is then detained and questioned for being in the country’s terror suspects black book.

“On inquiry, the petitioner is informed that he is stopped, detained, and questioned because his name allegedly appears on “a list”.

However, he has never been given details of the alleged list, the reason why he appears on such a list, or any offence that led to him being placed on the list.

He is also not informed of any orders issued against him that warrant his continued stopping, detention, and questioning,” his lawyer, Taib Ali Taib, said.

Mohamed states that he wrote to the police on November 20 and 27 last year, inquiring why he had been flagged.

He adds that he demanded to be removed from the list, arguing that he was intentionally, erroneously and unfairly included in the database. He further says that he did not receive any response.

Taib argues that it was strange that the security agencies were unwilling to give information on why his client was always a person of interest.

The lawyer says the repeated stoppage, detention and questioning without divulging any incriminating information was unfair and against Mohamed’s right to a lawyer and to be heard.

“By repeatedly stopping and detaining the petitioner for questioning by the first respondent over a period exceeding six years, the respondents have, ipso facto, designated him a terror suspect for an indefinite period, and or effectively treated him as a de facto ‘specified entity,” Taib argued.

According to the senior lawyer, the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) describes a specified entity as a person who is believed to have committed, attempted to commit or participated, or is preparing to commit a terrorist act.

He said Section 3b of the same law includes persons who act on behalf of or in association with the specified person.