The Mityana chief magistrate Moses Kule has allowed the Directorate of Public Prosecution to take over the torture case which Mityana MP Francis Zaake filed as charges against six police officers in a private prosecution.
The magistrate in his ruling stated that the constitution allows the office of the DPP to take over a case at any stage.
He also extended criminal summons for the officers until October 6th when they will be expected to appear in court for the hearing.
Hon. Zaake through his lawyers led by Eron Mukama instituted private prosecution charges against Wamala region Police Commander Bob Kagarura and the Mityana District Police commander Alex Mwine among others.
State Attorney Cathy Basuuta of the DPP’s office in Mityana applied for the state to take over the matter from Zaake and his lawyers who had filed it as a private prosecution.
Mr. Elias Tumwebaze lawyer for the accused police officers welcomed court’s ruling but added that the defense should not stop challenging the jurisdiction of the same court hearing the charges.
Tumwebaze contends that whereas some of the accused police officers are from Mityana where the offence was reportedly committed, others have never worked or been in Mityana and therefore charging them in Mityana court is not proper. However, Zaake has expressed total disappointment with the ruling saying that he does not expect justice to prevail considering the fact that it is the same state which alleged that he tortured himself. Hon. Zaake speaking……
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