Thursday , November 7 2024

Judiciary constitutes panel to hear King Mumbere terrorism case

 

FILE PHOTO: Rwenzururu King Charles Wesley Mumbere

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A panel of four judges has been constituted to hear the terrorism charges against Rwenzururu King Charles Wesley Mumbere and 159 others.

The Head of the International Crimes Division of the High Court, Justice Moses Mukiibi, has allocated the case to Justice Michael Elubu who will handle the Pre-trial stage.

At this stage, the prosecution discloses to the defense the evidence they intend to lay against the suspect, and the pre-trial judge looks at the adduced evidence and advises on the number of the charges it can sustain.

After completion of this pre-trial stage, Justice Elubu will then forward the file to the panel of three Justices who will handle the main trial.  They are Justice Duncan Gaswaga, Eva Luswata and Susan Okalany.

According to the Press Statement released by the Judiciary Communications Spokesperson, Solomon Muyita, the pre-trial hearing is scheduled to commence in the last week of this month at the Law Development Center-LDC Auditorium in Kampala.

Mumbere was arrested on November 27th, 2016 together with 159 royal guards following a raid on his palace in Kasese town by security forces.

Mumbere and the others were later charged with 41 offences related to murder, terrorism, attempted murder, aggravated robbery among others.

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Mumbere and six others were in 2017 released on bail pending trial by High Court Judge Eva Luswata but restricted his movements within Kampala, Jinja and Wakiso Districts.

The group of seven was also told to report to court once every month as one of their bail conditions.

However, Mumbere has since filed an application seeking to relax his bail conditions such that he can be able to move to his Kingdom in Kasese District.

His co-accused have since been held in various detention centres including Mbarara, Luzira and in Jinja for now over two years.

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