Court dismisses forgery charges against Kaweesi murder suspects

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  | Nabweru Magistrates court has dismissed charges of forgery against three suspects in the murder of former Police Spokesperson Andrew Felix Kaweesi.

The three suspects are; Bruhan Balyejusa, Shafiq Kasujja and Noordin Aramathan Higenyi.

Grade One Magistrate George Mfitundinda on Wednesday dismissed the charges on grounds that Nabweru court lacks jurisdiction to hear the case.

Mfitundinda noted that the alleged offences of unlawful production and keeping of National Identification cards were committed in Mpondwe Border Post and Kampala Central (Nassser Road) and thus the Magistrates Act bars them to be tried in other areas other than where they were committed.

“Mpondwe and Kampala Central are out of jurisdictions of this court, therefore i find that the two suspects Aramanzan Noordin Higenyi and Shafiq Kasujja were wrongly charged before this honourable court,” said Mfitundida.

Concerning the third suspect, Bruhan Balyejusa who committed the offence from Nabweru, the charges against him have been dismissed because the prosecution erred in law by joining him on the same charge sheet with the two others.

Last month,  the suspects’ lawyer Anthony Wameli filed an application asking court to dismiss the charges on grounds that the Nabweru court has no jurisdictions to try offences committed outside Kawempe and Nabweru Divisions.

Wameli also argued that the offences of forgery were a subset of the murder charges against the suspects in the International Crime Division of High Court-ICD where they accused of murdering former Police Spokesperson Andrew Felix Kaweesi.

However, the State Prosecutors led by Hope Mutoni Itungo asked court to maintain the charges arguing that they were totally different from those they face in the ICD.

The Prosecutor argued that the elements within which the forgery charges arise from are different because the Nabweru court was supposed to determine whether the National Identification cards found with the suspects are genuine or not.

Prosecution alleged that Shafiq Kasujja while at Nasser Road in March 2017, unlawfully designed and printed a National Identification Cards in the Names of Andrew Kwesiga.

The said Identification Card was later found with Higenyi Noordin Aramathan.  The Prosecution further contended that Bruhan Balyejusa alias Masiga in the same time was found unlawfully possessing four National Identification Cards.

The cards reportedly belonged two of his co-accused and others were for a one John Bwambale and Richard Toddy.

Shafiq Kasujja and Bruhan Balyejusa were set free because they had been granted bail on Kaweesi Murder charges by Justice Lydia Mugambe last month.

However Higenyi has other pending charges of aggravated child trafficking in Mukono Magistrates Court.

******

URN