High Court throws out application seeking to stop Bakaleke trial in kidnap case

The Civil Division of the High Court in Kampala has dismissed an application by former Kampala South metropolitan   police commander Siraje Bakaleke in which he sought for a temporary injunction stopping the Director of Public Prosecutions from instituting charges on him .

Last week, the Anti- Corruption court in Kololo Court issued criminal summons against  Bakaleke for failure to show up and answer  charges together with eighr  others are accused of abuse of office, conspiracy to defraud, kidnapping and abducting, and conspiracy to commit a felony for arresting, confining and extorting money from Koreanas.

Through his lawyers led by Sarah Nakachwa, Bakaleke petitioned the High Court seeking to stop his trial by the Anti -Corruption court saying it is against public interest.

He said that his chargesheet was drafted by police and the Director of Public Prosecutions endorsed which he says is wrong since the victims of the alleged crime never made statements.

“This application relates to powers of the DPP consenting to charges against our client which is in disregard of public administration of justice and it is an abuse of office,” the lawyers told court on Tuesday.

They asked court to use its powers under the civil procedure act to stay any criminal proceedings against Bakaleke pending the determination of the main application.

However, Justice Musa Ssekaana declined to grant the orders sought for.

“This court shall not issue orders not grounded in the law,”Ssekaana ruled.

He adjourned the case to October 11 when the main application in which Bakaleke seeks to stop proceedings against him in the Anti -Corruption court.

However, by the time his application returns to the High Court on October 11, he would have appeared before the Anti-Corruption Court because the criminal summons issued against him ordered him to appear on October 5.

Bakaleke is accused together with city lawyer Mugoya  Wanyoto , one Samwel Nabeta Mulowooza  and   6 other  police officers of offences related to abuse of office, kidnap and abducting with intent to confine a person, Embezzlement, obtaining money by false pretence and conspiracy to commit an offense .

It is alleged that two South Korean investors Park Seunghoon and Jang Shingu Un from Mckineley Resource Company Limited  were scheduled to meet some gold dealers in Kampala but were instead surrounded by security operatives who asked them to hand over the $415,000  they had at gun point before going away with it.

According to a police officer privy to the case, the police officers who were allegedly working on orders of Bakaleke would later detain the two Koreans at Katwe division police headquarters before they were later driven to Entebbe to be forced onto the plane back home.

However, the South Koreans missed the Emirates flight and the police officers from Crime Intelligence decided to buy them air Rwanda tickets but before they could board, operatives from the Flying Squad swung into action foiling the illegal deportation.

The six junior officers would  later be detained at Nalufenya detention centre in Jinja district but were released.

 

 

 

 

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