Yusuf Kawooya, the victim of last week’s despicable brutality by military personnel is being held in a detention facility at the Mbuya military headquarters, according to his lawyer.
Kenneth Paul Kakande, lawyer for Yusuf Kawooya told the press on Monday that he has received communication from the UPDF assuring him that his client is being held in Mbuya.
Kawooya, a member of the Uganda Young Democrats, the youth wing of Democratic Party (DP) came into the spotlight last week after a video by Record TV showed him being manhandled by gun-wielding men in Kampala city.
“Gladly, we now know where he is and who is holding him,” Kakande said but added that he could not be allowed to see Kawooya.
“We are going to count on their word and hope that he will be released today or tomorrow. If he is not released, we are considering filing a legal suit demanding that he is released,” he said.
Kakande says he was told that Kawooya’s condition is not worrying, although he expressed skepticism regarding the truth in the army’s assessment.
On Sunday, the lawyer said he suspects that the delay in producing Kawooya has everything to do with the sorry state in which his client could be, following the torture he endured.
“We suspect that he was badly brutalized and that is why the security agencies can not present him to the public until they have treated him to be presentable,” Kakande said.
The military has not yet revealed the charges for which Kawooya was arrested.
The family is concerned about Kawooya’s whereabouts having moved to several detention facilities in hope of locating him, in vain.
Five soldiers who were involved in Thursday’s arrest were arraigned before the military court in Mbuya on Saturday and charged with conduct prejudicial to the discipline of the defence forces. They all pleaded guilty and admitted to having used excessive force during the operation.
Opposition party, FDC has also come out to condemn the brutality with which Kawooya was arrested.
During a press briefing on Monday, Ibrahim Semujju Nganda, the FDC Spokesperson likened the arbitrary manner of Kawooya to the Idi Amin regime. Semujju said that what happened to Kawooya goes to show the magnitude of brutality that suspects face at the hands of the security agencies where there are no cameras.
“If they can arrest Kawooya the way he was arrested at Christ the King church in broad day light when people are watching, just imagine what happens when you are being transported in a Police vehicle or you are taken in a police cell,” Semujju said.
