Dr Stella Nyanzi has applied to the High Court to revisit the circumstances under which the trial magistrate closed her case without allowing her to file in her defence.
Trial magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu on Tuesday this week closed Nyanzi’s case without hearing her defence.
Kamasanyu argued that Nyanzi has been offered enough time to submit her defence but she had failed to produce any witnesses.
Nyanzi now wants High Court to revise the proceedings.
The High Court Deputy Registrar Ikit Mary, in a letter that was accessed by The Nile Post has now ordered the Chief Magistrate to forward the original file with certified copies of proceedings and exhibits for examination by the High Court.
“You are directed to forward the original file with certified copies of proceedings and exhibits, if any, as soon as possible,” the letter reads in part.
According to lawyer Andrew Ssekibamu, if the High Court finds defects in the proceedings inclusive of the fact that of Nyanzi’s failure to file her defence illegal, the High Court will order the chief magistrate to retry the case again but if it finds everything lawful, the judgment will be legal.
Under Section 48 of the criminal procedure code Act, the High Court may call for and examine the record of any criminal proceedings before any magistrate’s court for the purpose of satisfying itself as to the correctness, legality or propriety of any findings.
Nyanzi’s judgment had been set for August 1, 2019 in her case of cyber harassment and offensive communication.
Prosecution accuses Nyanzi of disturbing the peace of the president when she posted on her Facebook platform poems and literature which they regarded as obscene
