Basajjabalaba charged with assault
Jul 01, 2011
CITY businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba on Monday appeared at Buganda Road Court and was charged with assault. Basajjabalaba is accused of assaulting Arthur Kintu, a <i> New Vision</i> photographer.
By Edward Anyoli
CITY businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba on Monday appeared at Buganda Road Court and was charged with assault. Basajjabalaba is accused of assaulting Arthur Kintu, a New Vision photographer.
He appeared before Grade One Magistrate John Wekesa.
He denied the charge and was granted a non-cash bail of sh2m after his lawyer Obedi Nuwagaba presented two sureties who were also bonded at sh2m, not cash.
Basajjabalaba, who has eluded the Police several times, has been on a warrant of arrest after he defied summons to appear in court to answer charges of assault. He was due to appear today.
“The accused has been on warrant of arrest but he appeared himself and inquiries into this matter are complete,†the prosecutor, Patricia Cingtho, said.
Prosecution, led by Cingtho, said Basajjabalaba on September 6, 2010 at Mandela National Stadium in Wakiso district unlawfully assaulted Kintu and occasioned bodily harm on him.
Basajjabalaba, a former chairman of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, is said to have assaulted Kintu during the NRM primaries.
Kintu, who was accredited to cover the function, was taking photographs of Basajjabalaba, who had just been voted as the head of the entrepreneur’s league, when the businessman is said to have slapped and punched him.
Cingtho told court that investigations were complete and the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) was ready to proceed with the case.
Wekesa fixed July13 to start hearing the case.
Last year on October 29, Grade One Magistrate Francis Kobusheshe, formerly attached to Buganda Road Court, dismissed the case even before Basajjabalaba appeared in court.
The DPP, Richard Buteera, however, reinstated the charge and directed that Basajjabalaba appears in court to answer the charges.
CITY businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba on Monday appeared at Buganda Road Court and was charged with assault. Basajjabalaba is accused of assaulting Arthur Kintu, a New Vision photographer.
He appeared before Grade One Magistrate John Wekesa.
He denied the charge and was granted a non-cash bail of sh2m after his lawyer Obedi Nuwagaba presented two sureties who were also bonded at sh2m, not cash.
Basajjabalaba, who has eluded the Police several times, has been on a warrant of arrest after he defied summons to appear in court to answer charges of assault. He was due to appear today.
“The accused has been on warrant of arrest but he appeared himself and inquiries into this matter are complete,†the prosecutor, Patricia Cingtho, said.
Prosecution, led by Cingtho, said Basajjabalaba on September 6, 2010 at Mandela National Stadium in Wakiso district unlawfully assaulted Kintu and occasioned bodily harm on him.
Basajjabalaba, a former chairman of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, is said to have assaulted Kintu during the NRM primaries.
Kintu, who was accredited to cover the function, was taking photographs of Basajjabalaba, who had just been voted as the head of the entrepreneur’s league, when the businessman is said to have slapped and punched him.
Cingtho told court that investigations were complete and the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) was ready to proceed with the case.
Wekesa fixed July13 to start hearing the case.
Last year on October 29, Grade One Magistrate Francis Kobusheshe, formerly attached to Buganda Road Court, dismissed the case even before Basajjabalaba appeared in court.
The DPP, Richard Buteera, however, reinstated the charge and directed that Basajjabalaba appears in court to answer the charges.