Human rights lawyer Opiyo released on sh15m bail

Controversial Chapter Four Executive Director Nicholas Opiyo was on Wednesday granted a sh15m bail by the Anti-Corruption High Court Division while each of his sureties were given a sh100m non-cash bail.

High Court Judge Jane Okuo Kajuga directed Opiyo to surrender his passport to the registrar of Anti-Corruption Division and also report to the Registrar every two weeks.

Kajuga noted that even though it was a serious charge, bail was a constitutional right and that Opiyo met all the conditions for bail and that he had a permanent place of aboard.

"However serious a charge is, it all but remains an allegation. Courts are expected not to deny bail as a punishment," Justice Kajuga noted. 

Opiyo was arrested on December 22 in Kamwokya when he had reportedly gone to have lunch. He was detained at the Special Investigations Unit of the Police in Kireka on charges of money laundering. 

On December 23, security took him to his home and office for a search. The Police spokesperson, Fred Enanga, later in a statement noted that they had intensified their investigations on Opiyo after the search.

Opiyo was later arraigned in court and charged with money laundering and failure to declare returns to the NGO board. 

The state alleged that Opiyo had received $340,000 (sh1.2b) in his account at the ABSA bank from foreign sources knowing that they were proceeds of crime.