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Gulu City, Uganda: The panel of four judges, including Justice Stephen Mubiru, Duncan Gaswaga, Bashaija K. Andrew, and led by Justice Michael Elubu has set a date to pass judgement charges against ex-Lord Resistance Army rebel commander Thomas Kwoyelo alias Latoni to take place on July 12th, 2024.
The ruling was made in the evening of Wednesday, May 8th, after the defense legal team led by Counsel Caleb Alaka informed the court they were closing the presentation on the third defenses witness.
At exactly 4:10 p.m., when the court reconvened on Wednesday, Counsel Alaka, informed the court that they were closing the defense hearing on the three witnesses that they had called and that they were not going to call the other witnesses that they had lined up, having consultation with their client and their legal team.
The judges then issued schedules as follows: the defense is expected to file for submission by May 24th, and the prosecution will file a reply to the submission on June 7th.
Both the defense and prosecution will give the highlights of their submission in court on June 28th, and the court will sum up for the assessors at Gulu High Court the same day.
Additionally, on July 5th, the assessors shall render their opinion to the court for the judgement fixed to take place on Friday, July 12th, this year.
Recently, during the trial, counsel Henry Evans Ochieng, one of the defense lawyers, told the panel judges that they intended to call 48 witnesses to defend the accused. Some of these witnesses were supposed to be the victims, members of his family, and former fighters of the LRA. However, out of the 48, only three defense witnesses were called.
The state prosecution, led by Counsel William Byansi, Lillian Omara, Florence Okello and Charles Kamuli conceded, and the court went on to give schedules for filing submissions.
The former LRA commander is facing 78 counts, including murder, cruel treatment, pillage, torture, rape, enslavement, imprisonment, kidnapping with the intention of murder, aggravated robbery, and outrage against the dignity of humanity.
Counsel Robert Mackay, the lead lawyer, Henry Komakech Kilama and Jane Magdalane represented the victims during the hearing.
Her Worship Juliet Harty Hatanga, the deputy registrar of the International Crime Division of the High Court, expressed gratitude for the stage the trial has reached.
“I just want to express my sincere gratitude to every team that has been involved in this case, including the prosecution, defense, court assessors, panel of judges, victim counsels, and judiciary, for financing the trial to ensure the case is fast-tracked.
She appeals for patience. “We know they have been exercising patience since 2019, but as we committed to deliver judgement in July 2024,. We are on course. This is a testament to our commitment to see that justice is fast-tracked, and we pray and request that they keep a bit patient.”
According to Hatanga, right now, verification in terms of what happened to the victims and reparation are ongoing. She revealed that court has already received an application and admitted 103 victims out of the estimated 200 expected. She admitted that the process will be completed before the judgement is passed.
At this point in time, Hatanga told the Daily Express that the defense’s closing presentation of their witnesses “means the defense has exhausted the presence of all their witnesses, and they are now going to enter into submission. (Submission means the defense will add the testimonies of their witnesses to their case earlier submitted.)”
According to the registrar, the defense is expected to argue for the dismissal of all 78 counts levied against their client, and equally, the prosecution is expected to resubmit and make a strong case for a conviction of Kwoyelo.
Kwoyelo’s trial is the first of its kind in Africa because he faces charges for offences under the Geneva Convention Act, and in Uganda, the accused is being tried under customary laws.
Source:Daily Express