The Mityana Municipality Member of Parliament Francis Zaake has accused the High Court Judge Esta Nambayo of delaying the ruling in his torture case against government.
Protesting what he called a deliberate move by the judiciary to frustrate him, Zaake said on Tuesday that ever since the case started, the judge in charge of it has never faced them but rather she sends her clerk.
He added that it was too unfair for the ruling not to be given after several adjournments by Justice Nambayo.
The legislator’s reaction follows the fourth adjournment of the ruling which was meant to take place on 4th May 2021.
“This is unfair to us because I was tortured and I’m seeking justice but the court is now downplaying us. This is not fair. First of all, we have never talked with the judge but she just sends the clerk,” said Zaake.
According to Zaake’s lawyer Eron Kiiza, at first, the judgement was to take place on January 2021, later it was moved to April 16th, 2021 and Tuesday was the third time the judge through her clerk told them that the Judgement is not ready.
In May last year, through his lawyers of Kiiza & Mugisha Advocates, Zaake sued the government and the top security officers over torture. In his petition, he sought unspecified compensation from individual police and military officers and government.
It’s alleged that on 19th April last year eight police officers arrested Zaake and inflicted torture on him when as he was being picked from his residence in Mityana municipality for allegedly endangering the lives of the people by distributing food in violation of the covid-19 guidelines.
The eight police officers he sued are; Wamala Region Police Commander Bob Kagarura, Mityana District Police Commander Alex Mwiine and Elly Womanya, the former commandant of the police’s Special Investigation Unit and Musa Walugembe, the officer in charge of the Special Investigations Unit.
Others are; Abel Kandiho, the commander of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence, Hamdan Twesigye and Haruna Mulungi Nsamba.
Zaake alludes that he was detained for more than the mandatory 48 hours at the Police Special Investigations Unit in Kireka where he was allegedly tortured which affected his eyesight and right leg.
However through the office of the Attorney General, the government wants the case to be dismissed on grounds that it has no merit since Zaake was arrested for flouting Covid-19 guidelines and was neither tortured nor taken to any military detention.
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