Journalists have been barred from attending the hearing of the torture case filed against Security Personnel by Mityana Municipality Member of Parliament (MP) Francis Zaake Butebi.
Officers from the Field Force Unit were deployed to guard the door leading to the Court Halls and Chambers of High Court Civil Division Judge Esta Nambayo who was hearing this case.
It was after the court hearing that our reporters managed to speal to Zaake’s Lawyers from Kiiza & Mugisha Advocates, and they informed The Ugandan Wire that parties in this case have been directed to file written evidence and return to court on 13th January, 2020 for a ruling of the court.
The individually sued officers that include Abel Kandiiho the Head of Chieftancy of Military Intelligence (CIM), Alex Mwiine the Mityana District Police Commander (DPC), Elly Womanya the Commandant of the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) among others were represented by lawyers from the Attorney General’s office because they mantain that whatever they did was while they were on official duty.
MP Zaake wants compensation from the individual Police, Military Officers and government.
He contends that on 19th April this year as he was taking a shower at his upcountry home in Mityana District, a combined security detail of police and military, jumped over his wall fence and brutally arrested him.
He adds that the security detail was led by Mityana DPC Mwiine and Wamala Regional Police Commander, Bob Kagarura.
He says that despite demanding for a search warrant, the determined officers, ransacked his house leading to the destruction and loss of his property before bundling him on a waiting pickup truck.
The Legislator further says that he was held incommunicado, tortured and detained without trial for 10 days until 29th April at several places including Mityana Police Station, CMI Headquarters in Mbuya and SIU.
As a result, according to his lawyers’ submission, this caused MP Zaake physical and psychological pain and suffering, humiliation, loss of self-worth and threatened his life and dignity for which he is seeking damages.
However the DPP has since dropped the criminal charges against him from Mityana Chief Magistrate court.
