Ruto’s Turkish ally to be arraigned today over terrorism activities
The Turkish national who was part of Deputy President William Ruto’s blocked entourage to Uganda will be arraigned today in regard to terror financing link.
Harun Aydin was nabbed by the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU) at the Wilson Airport on Saturday as he arrived from a private trip in Uganda which the DP would have been part of it had the State not barred him from leaving the country.
Attempts by officials from Turkey’s Embassy and Aydin’s lawyers to secure his release were futile.
According to his lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi, he was denied the right to see Aydin.
“For the second day running I was denied the right to see Harun Aydin. The reason remains the same…”orders from above”. Fortunately, they have no choice but to bring him to court tomorrow as Article 50 of the Constitution kicks in,” he tweeted.
Sources within the ATPU said that the police will seek to detain Aydin for 14 days as they investigate his alleged involvement in terrorist financing.
Vouching his innocence, Deputy President William Ruto termed his arrest as a political witchhunt and that Aydin is a businessman who is legally in the country.
“I am the deputy president of this country. I cannot associate with terrorists,” Ruto said.
Ruto claimed that leaders and investors who support him are now being targeted and oppressed by the criminal justice system.
His sentiments were echoed by Kikuyu MP Kimani Ichungwa who said the arrest of the Turkish investor is a move to criminalize enterprises.
According to the Turkish Embassy in Nairobi, Aydin is a businessman and law abiding Turkish citizen who had travelled to Nairobi legally on a Turkish passport.
However, according to the New York Times, Aydin was profiled as a key member of a terrorist group based in Cologne commanded by Muhammed Metin Kaplan, dubbed “the Caliph of Cologne,” who aimed to unite the Islamic world under a single caliphate based in a liberated Istanbul.
“Harun was detained on suspicion of planning major acts of violence as a member of a terrorist organization with an Islamic fundamentalist background,” according to the prosecutor.
He was held by a Frankfurt court for giving directions for major crimes such as murder and manslaughter.
Aydin is said to have first arrived in the country in 2018 and has made frequent visits to Kenya.
In the same year, he is said to have made six return trips to Nairobi from Istanbul, while he made four trips in 2019 and in 2020, he made two trips.
This year, his passport has been stamped more than five times at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
Last month, he departed with Ruto to Sudan and they both travelled to Zanzibar through the Wilson Airport.
