Uganda Governance Monitor
Uganda Governance Monitor
According to the Daily Monitor, Chief Magistrate Ritah Neumbe Kidasa at Buganda Road Court declined to order the release of detained lawyer Male Mabirizi Kiwanuka, directing his lawyers to first present a formal decree from the Constitutional Court. His lawyer Anthony Asiimwe argued that a 17 March Constitutional Court ruling nullifying the provisions under which Mabirizi is charged made his detention unlawful, and questioned why prisons did not produce him after a public holiday. Mabirizi, who denies four counts under the Computer Misuse Act over posts about senior judges, remains on remand.
Disputed: The defence says the Constitutional Court judgment requires Mabirizi's immediate release and removes the magistrate's jurisdiction; the magistrate requires a formal extracted decree before acting.