KAMPALA-UGANDA/NEWSDAY: The woes of Male Mabirizi aren’t about to end after the Court of Appeal last week dismissed an application by th city lawyer seeking to be released from prison pending an appeal challenging the 18-month jail sentence handed to him for contempt of court.
Justice Christopher Izama Madrama on Friday ruled that there is no way he can stay the execution of the jail term when it was already done on February 21 and Mabirizi taken to serve his sentence.
The judge has also indicated that besides Mabirizi’s application being overtaken by events, there is no formal appeal challenging the proceedings of February 15 civil division judge Musa Ssekaana handed him the jail sentence.
Instead, Madrama indicated that what exists on court records, is an appeal, challenging the order directing him to pay Shs 300 million for attacking judicial officers which was also issued by justice Ssekaana on January 27.
Justice Madrama henceforth issued an order stopping the government from asking Mabirizi to pay the Shs 300 m fine until the determination of his appeal. Madrama further noted that he has no powers or jurisdiction to reverse the order sending him to prison since he did not formally challenge it.
After the decision, Mabirizi tried to make submissions before the court seeking to be released temporarily, arguing that he was not given a right to be heard and he is willing to comply with any terms and conditions that will be set by court.
Mabirizi said he has relatives and many friends willing to stand surety for him. He also wondered why he was being guarded by prison wardens ahead of the ruling of the court, saying the state seemed inclined to send him back to prison.
Mabirizi also told court that he doesn’t have any passport to flee the country and that he is a lawyer with many cases pending in several courts which may get affected because of his continued stay in prison. Madrama instead advised Mabirizi to make a formal application for bail after hearing all his submissions.
On January 27, 2022, Ssekaana ordered Mabirizi to pay a fine of Shs 300 million for contempt of court following posts on his social media platforms attacking civil division judge Phillip Odoki.
This was after Odoki had dismissed Mabirizi’s application that sought to restrain Capital Markets Authority (CMA) from extending the MTN IPO window and listing their shares on the Uganda Securities Exchange on grounds that the company was not well incorporated in the country.
The attorney general then filed an application for contempt of court before justice Ssekaana. Ssekaana also issued a strong warning restraining Mabirizi to stop attacking judicial officers in the future but Mabirizi allegedly continued using his Twitter handle to attack judicial officers.
The attorney general later returned to court early this month, saying that despite a January 27 order warning Mabirizi to desist from attacking judicial officers, he continued making contemptuous posts on his social media platforms specifically against Justice Ssekaana and the judiciary.
The attorney general who was being represented by assistant commissioner of litigation Patricia Mutesi noted that in the posts, Mabirizi accused Ssekaana of being biased, incompetent, and not able to head the smallest court of a family, and one who doesn’t qualify for any award from Uganda Law Society. He also allegedly described Ssekaana’s fine of Shs 300 million as null and void.
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