The suspects held over the Garissa University College terrorist attack Friday complained of inhuman treatment in the hands of police officers handling the case.
They told a trial court that they were tortured for ten consecutive days as the anti-terrorism police tried to extract confessions from them.

Speaking through an interpreter, the four Somalis and a Tanzanian claimed the police ducked their heads in buckets full of water, electrocuted and whipped them after they denied involvement in the terrorist attack in which 149, mainly students, were killed.

Mohammed Ali Abikar, Hassan Edin Hassan, Sahal Diriye Hussein Osman Abdi Dagane, Hassan Edin Hassan and Rashid Charles Mberesero were Friday charged with 152 counts of committing terrorism acts. They denied the charges.

They were also charged with conspiring with Al-Shabaab terrorists to attack the institution.

RELEASE ON BAIL

The prosecution alleges that the suspects jointly with Abdirahim Mohammed Abdulahi and Khalid Issack Hassan, who were killed in a counter-strike, alongside others who were not before court, colluded to carry out the terrorist attack.

Police want the suspect detained until the conclusion of their trial and have presented a sworn affidavit objecting to their release on bail.

“Based on strong evidence so far gathered linking the suspects in the planning and execution of the attack, the accused persons, if released on bail, are likely to commit more terrorist attacks calculated to intimidate the government,” an affidavit from Anti-Terrorism Police Unit’s Anthony Sunguti states.

The prosecution says the suspects may also be tempted to flee if granted bond as the charges they face attract life imprisonment upon conviction.