By; Newsroom

High Court judge Justice Margaret Oumo Oguli has ordered government to compensate each of the 22 people accused of murdering AIGP Andrew Kaweesi, with Shs. 80 million after proving their torture claims while in Police custody

The suspects had petitioned High Court seeking to be released from Luzira on grounds that their rights were violated during their arrest and live in a bad health condition which resulted from torture and inhuman treatment by both the Police and military officers.

Through their lawyer Rwadslaus Rwakafuuzi, the suspects asked court to declare that the acts of detaining them for more than 48 hours in police cells without trial, denying them access to their relatives after arrest, torturing them with pepper spray, beatings, punching, piercing of their bodies, suffocating and shocking them with electricity was all unlawful

In her ruling, Justice Oumo stated that Detective Superintendent of Police Olal Johnson, the investigating officer in the matter never denied holding the applicants for more hours but said that they were detained for long because they were known to be violent offenders. The court also found loopholes in Olal’s claims that the suspects were peacefully arrested because he was not the arresting officer, and knew nothing about the arrest

The judge warned the prisons authorities against further torturing of suspects because she had previously ordered three of them to be taken to African center for rehabilitation of torture victim for examination but the prisons Authority blocked the process which she said was contempt of court..


Friday 13th October 2017 05:57:21 AM