Legal activist, Hassan Male Mabirizi has petitioned the High Court International Crimes Division to suspend the trial of Makindye West MP Allan Ssewanyana and his Kawempe North counterpart, Muhammad Ssegirinya pending the hearing of his petition in the Constitutional Court.  

He also wants the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to drop the charges against the legislators. The charges are based on the massacres in the Greater Masaka area in 2021. 

Activist Hassan Male Mabirizi petitioned the High Court International Crimes Division in August 2022 to stay the prosecution of Makindye West MP Allan Ssewanyana and his Kawempe North counterpart, Muhammad Ssegirinya.

Mabirizi argued that the trial could not proceed because he had petitioned the Constitutional Court to question the legality of the trial of the MPs. The respondents in the suit were the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Attorney General.

The MPs have been charged with murder, attempted murder, and aiding and abetting terrorism, which all stem from a spate of machete attacks that claimed up to 26 lives in the Greater Masaka region between March and June 2021.

Shortly after their release on bail for murder on 13th February 2023, the DPP put additional charges of murder, terrorism, attempted murder, and abetting terrorism against the legislators.

Mabirizi argues that the addition of different criminal files, amounts to political persecution and is not unjustifiable in a free and democratic society and therefore, unconstitutional.

Mabirizi says in 2022, the Constitutional Court had fixed his petition for hearing but it never took off. He argues that the constitution does not allow one person to be tried for similar offenses in different courts of law.  

Senior State Attorney Richard Birivumbuka, who is handling the case, sought an adjournment, saying that the state was not ready to proceed.

Justice Alice Komuhangi of the High Court International Crimes Division adjourned the hearing to 3rd April 2023.

Ritah