Evidence planted by cops – lawyer
A Muslim cleric who is among those accused of orchestrating the bloody Verulam mosque attack in May and an IS-inspired wave of bombings in the months that followed has accused police investigators of planting evidence.
Tanzanian national Thabit Mwenda was one of 11 men applying for bail in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.
Their bid for bail has taken several weeks‚ with the alleged IS followers held in custody since their arrest during a series of police raids on October 5.
Advocate Sinthamanie Naidu‚ for Mwenda‚ called into question the reliability of evidence seized during his client’s arrest at the Reservoir Hills house he had been living in.
She homed in on an incendiary device which was found in one of the rooms in the house.
“[Mwenda] was accompanied into a room which was full of boxes.
“They had recently moved in and these items had not yet been unpacked.
“He saw the team leader pick up a plastic bag which appeared empty.
“[Mwenda] was distracted by the cries of his child.
“When his focus returned to the packet‚ it appeared as if something had been placed inside it.
“The team leader used his bare hands to remove a ‘device’‚” Naidu said.
She said the house had not been evacuated‚ leading her client to question whether the device was legitimate.
“Surely all of the police and the accused would have been removed from the house on the basis of safety alone‚” she said.
Mwenda is a central figure in what the state has held is a group loyal to IS. –