The High court in Kampala has pushed to January next year the hearing of the case in which Mityana MP Francis Zaake Butebi is accusing four senior police commanders of torturing him while in detention.
He was arrested for distributing relief food to his voters in April this year at the beginning the COVID-19 lock down.
Justice Esta Nambayo has ordered all parties involved in the case to file written submissions and report back to court on January 13th 2021 for mention of the case.
However, journalists were barred from court because this was a closed session. They however expressed dissatisfaction with the judge's decision to bar them from following the proceedings today, yet they have been covering the case before.
On the 26th of August this year,justice Esta Nambayo threw out an application by the attorney general seeking to dismiss the said torture case .
This is after state attorney Johnson Natuhwera , informed court that he was not in position to avail the respondent ; Moses Mugisha to be cross- examined on the contents of his affidavit which Zaake and his lawyer are claiming to be not true but just hear say evidence.
Zaake was later charged with defying a presidential directive on COVID19 at the Mitiyana magistrate court which the DPP has since dropped for lack of interest.
In his application, Zaake names the Wamala Regional police commander, Bob Kagarura, Alex Mwine; the Mityana district police commander, Elly Womonya; the commandant Special investigations unit and Abel Kandinho; Head CMI as being responsible for torturing him after he was arrested on the 19th of April 2020 from his home at Buswabulongo village in Mityana district by both Millitary and police officers.
He claims that senior security operatives slapped, kicked and sprayed in his eyes un unknown substance which almost blinded him.
He wants the high court to issue an order to compensate him in form of damages after the said police officers violated his human rights while in police custody.