Sentence for student who sent love messages to MP Rwabwogo quashed:Court orders retrial
The High Court has quashed the conviction of Brian Isiko,a student sentenced to two years imprisonment for sending love messages to Kabarole Woman Member of Parliament, Sylivia Rwabwogo.
Isiko,25 through his lawyer Ramathan Waiswa recently appealed against the sentence by Buganda Road court faulting the magistrate of changing his plea of not guilty to a plea of guilty without following the prescribed procedure in the law.
On Thursday,Justice Jane Francis Abodo ruled that it is true the lower court didnt follow the right procedure while charging and later sentencing him to two years for cyber harassment.
The judge ruled that in the right procedure of reading the charges for the accused and asking him to comment on the charges.
"The above procedural facts were very vital and ommitting them was very wrong,"Justice Abodo noted.
http://nilepost.co.ug/2018/09/12/i-sent-love-messages-to-mp-rwabwogo-to-befriend-her-says-isiko-in-his-appeal/
In his appeal,Isiko said he never intended to harm the legislator but noted that all he did was meant to befriend her.
To prove this assertion, Isiko’s lawyer reproduced the record of the lower court where he admitted downloading MP Rwabwogo’s contact from the parliamentary website and expressed his freedom of speech through sending her love messages that he had picked from love songs and poems of American celebrities including Don Williams and Enrique Iglesias .
Isiko also faulted the lower court for convicting him on charges of cyber harassment and offensive communication basing on inadequate pieces of evidence.
In her ruling on Thursday, Justice Obodo said all thr proceedings that led to Isiko's conviction were done wrongly.
"The plea of not guilty was not properly entered and led to a wrong conviction."
The judge subsequently quashed the conviction before asking for a retrial of the case in 48 hours before another magistrate.
She however cancelled Isiko's bail before being sent back to Luzira.
