Court quashes Brian Isiko's conviction, orders retrial

Oct 04, 2018

The student who was jailed for harassing the Kabarole District woman MP however had his bail cancelled

The High Court in Kampala has cancelled the bail it granted to Brian Isiko, the student accused of harassing the Kabarole District woman MP Sylvia Rwabwoogo by sending her love messages.

This is after Judge Jane Frances Abodo ordered that Isiko be taken back to Luzira Prison until when he will appear before the Buganda Road Court for a retrial on offenses of cyber harassment and offensive communication.

The judge has ordered that this must be done within the next 48 hours.

To order for a fresh trial, Justice Abodo first quashed and set aside Isiko's conviction and two-year jail sentence on the grounds that the trial magistrate changed his plea of not guilty to a plea of guilty without following the proper procedures.

While allowing Isiko's appeal against both the conviction and the sentence, Abodo ruled that magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu ought to have read and explained the offenses and ingredients to Isiko in a language that he best understands, and then record the exact words he should have responded to, before convicting him based on a partial admission.

abarole oman  wabwogo ylvia hoto by oderick himbazweKabarole Woman MP Rwabwogo Sylvia. Photo by Roderick Ahimbazwe

 

According to the lower court record reproduced in Abodo's ruling, Isiko first pleaded not guilty to the offenses but after Rwabwoogo's testimony, he admitted to having sent the love messages, asserting that he wanted the MP for a friend to help him boost his poultry business.

It is this partial admission that Kamasanyu took for a plea of guilty, thereby wrongly convicting Isiko and sentencing him to serve two years in jail.

Court during the trial heard that Isiko between November 2017 and June 2018 at unknown places in Kampala used a computer to send love messages to MP Rwabwoogo which he picked from lyrics and poems of famous musicians like Don Williams and Enrique Iglesias.

Rwabwogo told court that the messages were obscene and rude which disturbed her peace.

However Isiko's lawyer, Ramathan Waiswa, welcomed the High Court ruling and vowed to fight on in order to get justice for his client.

Waiswa added that he will file a production warrant for Isiko to obtain bail on Friday.

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