Court dismisses Otunnu defamation case

Buganda Road Chief Magistrate's Court has dismissed a case in which former Uganda People's Congress (UPC) party president Dr. Olara Otunnu was accused of defaming President Yoweri Museveni.

On Friday, Grade One Magistrate Joan Aciro dismissed the case for want of prosecution. She noted that prosecution had failed to produce witnesses to testify against Otunnu.

"Prosecution brought one witness who was not cross-examined.  His evidence was not sufficient to prove the allegation. The case is hereby dismissed and the accused set free," Aciro ruled.

She observed that court could not depend on the evidence of a single prosecution witness who was not cross examined to convict Otunnu.

Journalist Gideon Tumusiime was the only witness who testified in court but he did not turn up to be cross examined by the defense lawyers.

Earlier, Tumusiime testified that he heard Otunnu during a press conference uttering various atrocities that allgedly happened during President Museveni's regime.

He also submitted footage, showing Otunnu and him at the press conference.   

Prosecution says that on January 16, 2013 at the UPC headquarters at Uganda house in Kampala, Otunnu, while addressing a weekly party press briefing, caused publication of a defamatory matter against President Museveni.

Otunnu had purportedly attacked president Museveni's regime referring to it as one full of political assassins.

Otunnu has also been battling an alternative charge of disobeyed police summons that were duly issued requesting him to appear at the media crime police department at CIID to record a statement about the briefing.