Activists say such draconian actions by the state rank Uganda among the highest abusers of rights
When Ingrid Turinawe, leader of the Women’s League of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change appeared in court for the third time on treason charges on Dec. 9, she was angry.
“Why are you forcing me to pass there when I want to pass this side?” she shouted at a warder as she refused to pass the specified entrance.
Even with the crowd chanting, calling her name and referring to her as the only lady in Uganda, she neither waved back nor smiled at anyone.
“She is getting distressed because being in prison is not easy for a woman more so when you are innocent,” observed a woman standing behind me in the of Nakawa Magistrate’s courtroom in Kampala where the preliminary stages of the case are being handled.
On the other hand, her co-accused, Sam Mugumya who is FDC party leader Kizza Besigye’s personal assistant and Francis Mwijukye the party’s Youth Wing leader were as jolly as ever and cheerfully singing their famous song, “I shall overcome.”
Delaying tactics
It was the third time the trio was appearing in court ever since they were arrested during the second phase of Walk to Work protests in October and charged with treason. For the third time, the prosecutor said the state was still carrying out investigations to establish evidence against them.
Once again, opposition party members who filled the courtroom booed. They said if the state cannot find any charges to label against them, it should just acquit them. At the time of their arrest, the Inspector General of Police, Maj. Gen. Kale Kayihura who labeled them treasonous said he had enough evidence to show that the trio wanted to overthrow government.
So the lawyer for the accused, Earnest Kalibala, asked court why his clients were treated as if they were guilty when there is no evidence implicating them. “My clients should be innocent until found guilty,” he said.
Students at Uganda’s biggest university, Makerere, in Kampala also vowed to demonstrate if the accused are not tried as quickly as possible or acquitted.
In their letter to the speaker, the students said they could not sit back and pretend it is normal business when some innocent Ugandans are rotting in prison. They gave court two weeks to do something about the trio’s case or they will mobilise other students and fellow youths to take on streets and protest that injustice.
Human rights activists had earlier also condemned not only the delay of the trial but also the nature of the charges saying the state is using treason to deny the accused bail. They petitioned the Constitutional Court challenging the charges of treason levied on people who were just expressing the dissatisfaction of the state of the economy.
In a sworn affidavit , Foundation for Human Rights Initiative (FHRI) Executive Director Livingstone Sewanyana said Walk to Work protests were organised by political party activists to express their discontent with government policies relating to the economy, inflation and corruption, and have involved no use of weapons or calling the population to take up arms against the government.
The date of the hearing of the human rights activists’ case has also not been fixed and the government is accused of using delay tactics in both cases.
The activists say such draconian actions by the state are the reason why Uganda was ranked among the highest abusers of human rights and human rights defenders. The Human Rights 2011 Annual Report says freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly have been severely suppressed since the Feb. 2011 general elections.
It condemns the state’s continuous use of the law to stifle human rights activities with the amendment of the Non-governmental organization (NGO) registration act, the Press and Journalists Act, the Public Order Management Bill and the recent Anti-bail Bill.
So it was with apprehension that the trio returned to court on Dec. 12 to hear the fate of their bail application. Judge Singh Choudry heard the application amidst heavy deployment by the anti-terrorism police. Eventually they were granted bail of Shs 5 million each and ordered not to leave their residences without the court’s permission.
But the bail too did not pass without controversy.
As FDC officials who included party leader Besigye and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Nandala Mafabi failed to deposit the bail money as Uganda Revenue Authority system was “down”.
“Government itself must have jammed the system,” said Mafabi. “It cannot be mere coincidence that the system fails on the day when these people have been given a chance to gain their freedom”.
Ingrid Turinawe had other reasons to smile as well this time. She was acquitted of the other charges that had been piled on her and three others including traffic offences, unlawful society and disobedience of lawful orders.
Nakawa Magistrate Court Chief Magistrate Charles Serubuga dismissed those charges against Ingrid and the three other gentlemen she was accused with citing vague and incomplete evidence from all the three witnesses produced by the state prosecutor.
“I acquit the four accused as no court can rely on the evidence given by the three witnesses,” declared Nakawa Magistrate Court Chief Magistrate Charles Serubuga.
But their fate in the treason case still hangs in balance and the state which is the prosecutor does not seem to be in any hurry to complete its investigations.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
written by discount ugg boots, December 27, 2011
-
- +0
-
-
written by Coach Factory Outlet, February 29, 2012
-
- +0
-
-
written by nike lunar eclipse, May 02, 2012
-
- +0
-
-
