Seven police operatives including Senior officers were Friday charged by the Court Martial in Makindye with kidnap and illegal repatriation of Rwandan nationals.
Prosecution states that on October 25, 2013 at Kamengo in Mpigi district, the suspects unlawfully used firearms and grenades, ordinarily a monopoly of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, to kidnap and convey Mutabazi and Kalemera to Rwanda
The policemen were charged alongside a Rwandan army officer, Rutagungira Rene and a Congolese, Pacifique Bahati Mugenga who goes by alias Ilunga Monga.
The police officers paraded before the Court Martial chaired by Lt. Andrew Gutti at Makindye are Nickson Agasirwe, the former commandant of Police Special Operations Unit, Joel Aguma, the Police Professional Standards Unit commandant, Faisal Katende, Amon Kwarisima, Abel Tumukunde, James Magada and Faisal Katende.
The officers were apprehended by the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) earlier this week and interrogated at Makindye maximum security military police facility.
Judge advocate Lt. Col Gideon Kattinda asked the accused to state whether they had any objection with the military court panel, to which they said they had no problem.
Sources told SoftPower that during interrogation, the detainees attempted to blame their criminal hand over of refugees to Rwanda for extermination on the late AIG Andrew Felix Kaweesi saying they acted on his orders.
Three of the officers including Agasirwe and Katende are reportedly suspects in the aggravated robbery and murder of an Eritrean businessman. Deniel Weldo was killed in cold blood in December 2016. His killers then tried to steal two million euros (Shs 8bn) from his account operated in Stanbic bank.
The commandant of the Flying Squad Herbert Muhangi too is reported to have been interrogated and later released.
The shocking arrests are a clear move by the Commander – in – Chief to clean up the police Force which he (President Museveni) has previously described as having been penetrated by criminals. It follows numerous incidents of unresolved cases, dragging investigations and syndicated criminal activities all of which have tainted the Uganda Police Force image and caused the public to lose trust.
On Friday, Nixon told the Court martial that he had been detained beyond the constitutional 48 hours and tortured.
Court adjourned the matter up to November, 27 and remanded the suspects to Kigo and Luzira prisons.
Another perspective
Human rights lawyer Nicolas Opiyo says that one of the suspects has a record of flouting the law by illegally repatriating a refugee even when the court had ordered for an unconditional release of the said refugee.
In a case Opiyo handled, one of the senior police officers now being accused without the knowledge of INTERPOL, abducted a Rwandan refugee from Fort Portal and detained them in various police stations between Fort Portal and Kampala”.
Opiyo further claims the suspect extorted money from the refugee and forced them to transfer their properties.
“When the court ordered for the unconditional release of the refugee who had been in the country lawfully for over 20 years, the police disobeyed the court order,” Opiyo wrote on his Facebook account.
We took out contempt of court proceedings against the IGP, Attorney General and other officers.
The detained refugee only came to be released after a contempt of court application had been filed against the IGP and Attorney General, Opiyo said.
The lawyer says he is willing to testify against the said police officer whose action he says caused a lot of suffering to so many families.
