KAMPALA-UGANDA/NEWSDAY; Justice Musa Sekana has acquitted Speaker of Parliament Anita Among of torture as he dismissed a case against her by city businessman, Francis Matovu.
Matovu had sued Among along the Uganda Police force and the UPDF after his arrest in November last year seeking redress on allegations of breaches of his freedoms, theft of his money, and detention out of a prescribed period of 48 hours.
Buto was arrested with NUP mobiliser Moses Bigirwa for allegedly defaming the then deputy speaker in a series of social media publications which pointed to alleged corruption.
But in Sekana’s ruling dated July 27 he dismissed the entire case and ordered Buto to pay costs.
‘’I find that the applicant has not proved that there was a violation of his fundamental rights and freedoms by the respondents. Therefore, the application is dismissed and the orders sought are denied. The costs are awarded to the 1st respondent,’’ Sekana ordered.
But Buto’s lawyer of Sanywa Wbawire and Co. Advocates vowed to appeal against the judgment in a notice to the registrar of the High Court.
‘’On the 27th July 2022, Justice Sekana delivered a ruling against our client. Our client is dissatisfied and is desirious of appealing,’’ the lawyers wrote on Thursday.
In his ruling, Sekana said Among had simply lodged a complaint with the police and had no personal or official capacity to determine how the investigations, arrests or detaining of the offenders would be done.
‘’ It would be an injustice to hold her personally liable for the actions of the Police CID,’’ Sekana ruled.
Sekana said that Buto should have showed that Among was actively instrumental to his detention and or violation of his rights.
‘’Any citizen who reports a commission of an offence like in the present case cannot be added as a party to violations which may have occurred. A party will only be liable where he deliberately, falsely, maliciously and vindictively sets the machinery in motion for breach of the person’s rights without any justification or basis. The court should be able to interrogate the circumstances surrounding any case of alleged violation of rights.’’Sekana ruled.
He accused Buto and his lawyer intent to make his case ‘look big’ and flowery and extend his publicity stunts on social media against Among.
‘’The applicant has failed to show a cause of action against the respondent or any violations.
But the justice said the military were culpable for torture.
‘’A person who infringes or breaches the constitutional rights of another person has the onus to justify such breaches,’’ Sekana ruled.
Sekana said that the applicant failed to prove on the balance of probabilities that his right to personal liberty under Article 23 of the Constitution was violated.
Buto had also told court that a total of US$ 27,000 he had obtained from the sale of his personal car a Toyota Landcruiser Reg No. UAZ 188F to Kibirige Farouq was stolen by officers.
And that when he went to CPS in Kampala to file a complaint about the theft of his money by the policemen who arrested him but the police at CPS refused to register his complaint which prompted the applicant to lodge a complaint to the commandant professional standards unit Uganda Police Force.
‘’ It is proved that the applicant sold his vehicle to Kibirige but no proof he had the money from the sale at the time of the arrest. There is also no evidence implicating the arresting officers in the theft of the said monies,’’ Sekana ruled.
That Buto was beaten with a wire rod and sticks on his stomach, chest, legs, and back, while being soaked in extremely cold water for a long time-and tied with a rope on his hands which was attached to the ceiling which caused severe wounds on the applicant’s hands; Sekana said that photographs of scars on the body presented as evidence didn’t correlate with the medical report.
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