Chief justice Bart Katureebe has reportedly directed the director of public prosecutions (DPP) to transfer the trial of Rwenzururu king Omusinga Charles Wesley Mumbere and his royal guards to Kasese Magistrate’s court.
Katureebe wants the king and his 161 royal guards tried in a Kasese court under whose jurisdiction the purported crimes were committed.
The suspects, appeared before the Jinja Chief Magistrate’s court on Tuesday and Wednesday this week and charged with 41 counts ranging from terrorism, murder, aggravated robbery to attempted murder and malicious damage to property.
Prosecution alleges that between March and November 2016, at diverse places within Kabarole and Kasese districts, Mumbere and his co-accused contrived a plot to overthrow the government of Uganda by forces of arms.
Section 31 and 32 of the Magistrate Court Act provides that a Magistrate’s court will only handle prosecution and trial of cases committed within its jurisdiction.
Irene Nakimbugwe, the deputy spokesperson of the directorate of public prosecution, says the king and his subjects were transferred from Kasese to Jinja Magistrate’s court with permission from the chief justice.
“The DPP first wrote to the chief justice explaining the situation in Kasese and he approved that the suspects be charged in another court only until the situation in Kasese has calmed down. Once the security stabilizes, the suspects will be sent back to Kasese Magistrate’s court,” Nakimbugwe said.
Early this week, police spokesperson Andrew Felix Kaweesi said the security situation in Kasese has normalized despite the fact, that police are still carrying out operations to weed out the perpetrators of last month attacks. The clashes in Kasese left more than 150 people dead.
Earlier this year, the DPP charged Rtd Col Dr. Kizza Besigye, the former Forum for Democratic Change presidential candidate in Karamoja with treason although the alleged crime was committed in Kampala.
The chief justice faulted the move prompting the DPP to arraign Besigye before Nakawa Magistrate’s court, which has on the area where the offense was allegedly committed.