The two officials that were issued summons by the Chief Magistrates court, in the criminal case arising from the torture of some of the #COSF detainees, did not turn up for the hearing. The two summoned are the LCIII Chairman Kyengera Town Council Hajji Abdul Kiyimba and Philemon Woniala the Deputy Officer in charge of Kitalya Prison where the #COSF20 were detained.
The legal team from Human Rights Awareness and Promotion Forum together with representatives from #COSF spent an entire day waiting for the hearing to no avail. They later learnt that the Chief Magistrate handling the case was also not in court and were informed by one of the Clerks in the general Court Registry that the magistrate was handling cases in Kigo Prison, and another court date would have to be set. Efforts to get in touch with the clerk in order to get a new date have so far been futile.
“Yesterday our legal team went to the Chief Magistrate's Court of Wakiso to represent seven (7) COSF members in Criminal Case No.505 of 2020, which arose out of a complaint of torture against Hajji. Abdul Kiyimba, the LCIII Chairman of Kyengera Town Council, and PO Philemon Woniala, the Deputy Officer in Charge of Kitalya Mini-Maxi Prison. This was in response to
criminal summons that were issued by the Chief Magistrate, requiring Hajji.Kiyimba and PO Woniala to appear in court on 26th August 2020, at 11:00 a.m., to answer charges of Torture, contrary to Sections 2 and 4 ofthe Prevention and Prohibition of Torture Act. Neither PO Woniala nor Hajji. Kiyimba showed up in court, despite being served with the Court summons,” Susan Bluka, the Legal Officer-Advocacy and Strategic Litigation at HRAPF shared.
“We arrived in court at about 10:00am and our lawyers came in shortly after. We were then informed about the magistrate being away. Neither the magistrate nor her clerk were accessible at that moment but we received assurance from our legal team that warrants of arrest for the two officials, who had refused to turn up after being summoned by court, would be the next course of action. We are disappointed at this turn of events but also have full confidence in our legal team,” Henry the Executive Director of Children of the Sun shared with Kuchu Times
Going forward, HRAPF has revealed that they intend to follow up with the Clerk to the Chief Magistrate in order to get a new hearing date. They also intend to apply to the Court to issue arrest warrants for Hajji. Kiyimba and PO Woniala, in light of the fact that they disregarded the summons that required them to appear in Court yesterday.
