Man sentenced to 5 years in prison for rigging Interpol after argument with wife

A Ugandan man who misled Interpol about a possible terrorist attack after a disagreement with his wife has been jailed for five years.

He was arrested in September 2024 and faces charges under Article 26 of the Prevention of Terrorism Law No. 30 of 2012.

The Kahawa Magistrate’s Court also gave an option to pay a fine of Sh5 million.

According to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), he wrote to the Interpol Secretariat asking them to inform the Kenyan authorities of a planned terrorist attack.

The Ugandan man claimed to know the two people who were planning the attack, detectives said.

However, an investigation by the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) led to the arrest of the two women mentioned in the Ugandan’s email, but it was established that there was no link to any terrorist group.

“Before his indictment, it was established that on June 30, 2024, he sent an email to the General Secretariat of Interpol in France, asking them to inform Kenyan security agencies, including the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU), of an imminent terrorist attack perpetrated by a known man. terrorist group. He further alleged that two individuals known to him working with other unknown terrorists were planning to carry out an imminent terrorist attack in Kenya using improvised explosive devices,” DCI said.

“ATPU detectives launched an investigation during which they arrested a female suspect whose telephone number was mentioned in her report. During interrogation, she revealed that the said telephone number was registered using her identity card but was used by her cousin. A manhunt for said cousin ensued and she was arrested in Eastleigh. However, further investigations revealed that she had no links with any terrorist group and was not aware of any planned attacks,” the DCI said.

Detectives said they would arrest the Ugandan a few days later in the same area, where a search of his home turned up two mobile phones, a laptop and various documents.

The forensic analysis of the Anti-Terrorism Forensic Laboratory revealed that he was the author of the said email as it originated from his Yahoo email account.

Detectives further established that he wrote and sent the malicious email to the Interpol General Secretariat in France, acting out of anger to punish his estranged wife.