The General Court Martial at Makindye in Kampala has sentenced 16 National Unity Platform (NUP) party supporters that were convicted of attempting to overthrow the government of Uganda to five years in prison. However, the court has reduced their sentence to three months and 22 days following the four years they already served in prison.
The court’s decision comes after considering the convicts’ three years and eight months spent on remand, 16 months attending trial, and the previous guilty plea.
The Court Martial, chaired by Brig Gen Freeman Robert Mugabe, alleged that Olivia Lutaaya and 31 others were found in possession of 13 pieces of ammunition.
Mugabe pronounced the verdict, thereby declaring the convicts remanded for three months and 22 days from the date of the sentence on mitigation of the previous time spent in jail.
On October 15, 2024, while before the General Court Martial, Lutaaya and others pleaded guilty to charges of treachery and illegal possession of explosive devices and sought forgiveness from the court.
However, the court’s previous bail applications were denied due to insufficient sureties, prompting eight opposition MPs and a city mayor to offer sureties.
Prosecution alleges the group possessed explosive devices in various areas, including Jinja, Mbale, and Kampala, between November 2020 and May 12, 2021.
After the pronouncement of the sentence, the accused expressed dissatisfaction with the punishment, stating they expected to be released after pleading guilty and serving over three years on remand, therefore were permitted to appeal the sentence and seek a presidential pardon.
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This conviction has sparked concerns about the treatment of opposition supporters and the use of military courts to try civilians.
In a statement dated October 22, 2024, the President of the Uganda Law Society, Isaac Ssemakadde, denounced the militarization of the judicial system.
Ssemakadde also made it clear that the top courts delay and failure to terminate the trial of civilians in military tribunals portrayed a great human rights violation and a breach to the 1995 constitution of the Ugandan Republic, vowing to take legal action against the injustice.
State failure and agitation for demilitarization of law enforcement and administration of justice in present-day Uganda.
