The High Court has stopped Gen David Sejusa’s trial in the General Court Martial until it decides whether he is still a serving army officer or not.
About two months ago, Gen Sejusa petitioned the High Court seeking a declaration that he was constructively retired from the army and also that his trial in the military court be quashed because he is no longer subject to martial law.
His lawyers Mushabe and Munungu Company Advocates requested the High Court to order the suspension of Gen Sejusa’s trial in the army court until his petition is heard and disposed of.
Justice Margaret Oguli Oumo said Sec 98 of the Civil Procedure Act provides High Court with powers to issue orders with an aim of avoiding abuse of court and since Gen Sejusa tried to express his rights by using all the avenues to seek freedom before the General Court Martial and he did not achieve them, the High Court is mandated to give him justice.
The General Court Martial last Friday had started hearing Gen Sejusa’s case with its first prosecution witness, Brig Joseph Musanyufu, the secretary to the promotions and commission’s board, which handles retirement affairs in the army, testifying that he had never received Gen Sejusa’s application to retire from the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF).
“It was unfair for Court Martial to deny Sejusa bail even after proving that he was above 50 years, the age which is legally recognised as advanced under the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda. It was not even fair to refuse his sureties on grounds that they were civilian ordering him to get those at the rank of a general,” the High Court judge ruled, adding that the presiding chairman of the military court himself is of a lower rank.
The judge added that Sejusa is being held in prison where the pain he is going through cannot be compensated after his right to bail has been violated and enslaved, contrary to the Constitution.
“Having considered a number of factors, I thereby order the trial where the applicant is facing five counts before the General Court Martial be halted until the main application number 176 of 2016 before this court is fully resolved,” the judge ordered.
Justice Oguli also ordered Sejusa to apply for bail in the High Court Criminal Division since his liberty has been curtailed by the General Court Martial after exhausting all avenues for bail.
Sejusa is on trial in the General Court Martial on charges of insubordination, engaging in partisan politics and being absent from duty without official leave.
The Monitor
UM– USEKE.RW
