The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Buganda Road Chief Magistrate’s Court has set August 1 as the date it will deliver its judgment in a case in which Stella Nyanzi is accused of cyber harassment and offensive communication.
On Tuesday, Gladys Kamasanyu, closed the case after the defence failed to produce witnesses.
Kamasanyu added that the proposal by Nyanzi’s lawyers to adjourn the case for a month to enable her identify, solicit and mobilize resources and witnesses in her defence through advertisement in newspapers was not only alien and queer in the legal practice but also misdirecting the court and perhaps to make people lose confidence in the judicial system.
She added that defence did not give court any justification to compel the summoned witnesses to court through arrest warrants defence asked court to issue.
Kamasanyu, therefore, noted that with the accused having failed to have witnesses in court for her defence is clear that she does not have any witnesses to present and therefore the case must be closed.
She also added that Nyanzi had chosen to sit on her own right to defend but also use it as a weapon to frustrate further proceedings in her own case.
After her ruling, Nyanzi’s lawyer Isaac Semakadde said that they will not make any submissions.
“The defence entirely hands over to the court to do what it pleases,” said Ssemakadde.
Kamasanyu, therefore, adjourned to August 1st, 2019 for judgment.
Ssemakadde says that they will discuss the matter their client.
Some of the defence witnesses who were supposed to appear in court were Grace Akullo the Police Criminal Investigations Director, Dr James Ocita, Bishop Zac Niringiye, Rev Fr Gaetano Batanyenda, Prof Ronald Kakungulu Mayambala of Makerere University (Mak) School of law, and Eng. Frank Kitumba the head of Directorate ICT Support at Makerere University.
Others are Mildred Apenyo, Solome Nakaweesi, Mustapha B. Mugisa and Dr Dason Sylvester Kahyan and both in the Department of Literature at Makerere among others.
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