Trial of Seven Renditioned Muslims set for March 17

NAIROBI: The trial of seven renditioned Kenyans has been slated for March 17 in the Ugandan capital Kampala. The seven are among a group of eleven people accused of being responsible for the July 2010 bombing in Kampala which claimed more than 70 lives.
The date was set after the suspects lost a court bid to block their trial in the High Court until their intended appeal is heard and determined by the Supreme Court.
Through their lawyers Peter Walubiri and Caleb Alaka, the suspects had asked the court to suspend the trial to allow an appeal challenging the Constitutional Court decision that dismissed their request to be freed on grounds of torture and human rights violations by the State.
“What I have is an order of the Constitutional Court directing me to try the accused persons in the interest of justice. Unless an order from a superior court has been issued, the hearing of this case will proceed,” said high court Judge Alphonse Owiny-Dollo who presided over the case on Tuesday.
He ruled that the trial of the suspects shall proceed as per the Constitutional Court order in which five justices directed the High Court to try the accused persons without any more delays.
The Constitutional court in October last year unanimously dismissed the petition in which the suspects were seeking to halt their trial on the basis that their transfer from Uganda to Kenya was illegal and they had been subjected to torture and inhuman and degrading acts by security agencies.
In the petition, they had called on the Director of Public Prosecutions not to use their confession in the trial because the statements were extracted from them under duress.
The Kenyan suspects include Idris Magondu, Hussein Hassan Agade, Omar Awadh Omar, Muhammad Hamid Suleiman, Yahya Suleiman Mbuthia, Habib Suleiman Njoroge and Muhammad Ali. Ugandan nationals who are accused of being party to the bombing are Isa Ahmed Luyima, Hassan Huruna Luyima, Sulaiman Hija Nyamandondo, Abubaker Batematyo and Muzafar Luyima.
They face charges related to murder, attempted murder and being accessories to terrorism in regard to the twin Kampala bombings in 2010. Their arrest and rendition to Uganda drew a flurry of condemnation from the high court, the Muslim leadership and civil society organization who accused the government of carrying out the transfer without following the due regard of the law. Parliament later issued an order to the government to facilitate their return and have them charged locally but it is yet to be adhered to.