Justice Musa Ssekaana has condemned the detention of Entebbe businessman Francis Bazibu. in a military facility.

Bazibu who is battling a charge of unlawful possession of a bullet has been in detention at Makindye Military Police Barracks for close to two years. The businessman deals in real estate.

The Civil Division of the High Court head Monday ruled that Bazibu was wrongly and illegally transferred from Kitalya Government Prison to the army detention facility.

This follows a suit Bazibu filed against the Special Forces Command (SFC), Inspector General of Police (IGP), Chief of Military Intelligence and Attorney General in January 2021, challenging his detention in the military facility.

The judge has, therefore, ordered that Bazibu be immediately transferred back to a civil prison.

“Persons detained on suspicion of committing criminal offences triable under military law need to be protected from the unfamiliar detention of military establishment,” he observed.

Justice Ssekaana noted that the detention in a military barracks indirectly infringes on the right of civilians to a fair trial since such establishments are not easily accessible to their family members and lawyers who may not be able to meet or discuss their case in preparation for a trial.

The businessman is being represented in the army court by lawyers Umar Lukwago and Elizabeth Kodil.

Four months ago, the businessman requested the army court to expedite his trial, citing prolonged detention in the army facility, in vain. Efforts by the businessman to secure bail have also been frustrated to date.

The army court has fixed his case for hearing several times but it has never commenced.

According to his lawyers, the case file has never been forwarded to the Uganda People Defence Force (UPDF) Chief of Legal Services, Brig. Gen. Godard Busingye for consultation, thus creating an impasse to their client’s trial.

Allegations

Prosecution alleges that Bazibu on November 11, 2020, while at Bugembe-Gembe Kasengeje in Wakiso district, was found with one round of AK47 ammunition, a monopoly of the Uganda People Defence Forces.

Arrest

Court documents indicate that plain-clothed men arrested Bazibu on October 31, 2020, at Okello House in Kampala, where he had gone to attend a meeting.

Bazibu was first arraigned at the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence Unit Disciplinary Committee (UDC) in December 2020, after Justice Emmanuel Baguma ordered security operatives to produce his body to court, dead or alive.

The directive had been prompted by an application of habeas corpus filed by the accused's wife, Fiona Namazzi, seeking orders to have her husband produced before the court to determine if his detention is lawful.