Yesterday morning the trial of the two Kenyan citizens accused of being members of the gang of eight criminals on the evening of November 20, 2018 opened in an unexpected way.
They attacked men, women and children in the quiet village of Chakama, in the hinterland of the Kenyan coast about 60 kilometers from Malindi, shooting madly, injuring some of them and ending the criminal action with the now sadly known kidnapping of their compatriot Silvia Romano, who worked in Chakama as a volunteer of the non-profit Africa Milele.
Unexpectedly, because initially the trial, according to the indications of the Kenyan institutions, resumed by the media after the meeting on July 12 last in Rome between the Kenyan Attorney General Noordin Haji and the Public Prosecutor in charge of the investigation opened in Rome, Sergio Colaiocco, should have been held in Nairobi.
However, rumours had already been spreading for a few days that the first hearing would be held at the Court of Malindi, but finally the decision was made to transfer the inaugural day of the trial to the very place where it all began, to the village of Chakama.
The two defendants, who have already admitted their responsibilities and partly cooperated with the Kenyan authorities, revealing with credible information that Silvia Romano was alive until after Christmas and that she was sold to another criminal gang, were transported to the small rural center of the hinterland of Kilifi County, where an improvised courtroom has been set up in the local primary school, duly supervised (during this period also in Kenya schools are closed).
The decision seems to have been taken to give the magistrate the opportunity to listen to all the witnesses of that tragic evening, including those who were injured by the first gunshots AK 47, before the break-in in the room that housed Silvia Romano.
Many of them, for lack of resources, would not have had the opportunity to present themselves in Nairobi, but also simply in Malindi, so it was decided to bring the two accused by them, for a confrontation. Today the second day of the trial will be held in the Court of the coastal town.
We still do not know when and how the sentence will be handed down.