Court Awards Shs 10Million To Suspect Detained At Police Beyond 48Hours

The High Court in Kampala has awarded UGX 10million to Walusimbi Shafik for being held beyond 48hours by police before he was charged in court. In her ruling, Judge Joyce Kavuma said the constitution allows no exceptions for police to hold suspects beyond the constitutionally decreed 48hours before they are charged in court.  

“It is clear that any person detained ought to be brought before a court within 48 hours. It is important to note that realistically, if a person is arrested, he does not go directly to Court from the police cell. The file has to first move from the police to the DPP for sanctioning before it goes to Court. This is the procedure, and unfortunately, this usually never happens within the said 48 hours. Nonetheless, the police have an option to release the person on police bond if, in their opinion, they think they will be unable to comply with the above constitutional provision. The whole essence of production of a person who has been arrested or detained before a court within 48 hours is in a bid to ensure that the person arrested gets a fair trial,” the judge ruled.   

In his application, Walusimbi alleged that he was arrested at his home at Kisimbili, Wakiso Town Council on 20th November, 2024 and detained at Kireka police Flying Squad detention center popularly known as Wembule. While under detention at Kireka Police Flying Squad, Walusimbi alleges that he was subjected to constant torture by police officers in the form of severe beatings with sticks and wires and kickings. Due to this torture, he developed body swellings and started urinating urine mixed with blood. 

That after three days, he was transferred to Kampala Central Police Station to make a police statement and was detained until 29th November, 2024, when he was produced at Kira Chief Magistrate’s Court to answer charges. He wanted the court to quash his trial in the magistrates’ court. However, in an affidavit in response to the application, Nampindi Catherine, a police Investigating Officer in the case, said Walusimbi was arrested for allegedly attacking his girlfriend, Gashumba Zam, and her new boyfriend, Faruk Minawa Ssendagire. It was during this scuffle that he sustained injuries. She denied that the police ever tortured him. She said they were unable to charge Walusimbi within the mandatory 48hrs because he was arrested on a Friday and the following day was Saturday, so they couldn’t charge him until Monday. 

But in her ruling, Kavuma declined to accept the police’s argument.  “The material facts relating to the arrest and subsequent detention are credibly proved by the affidavit evidence on record, including the sworn deposition of the applicant and the documentary evidence annexed thereto. The above evidence has not been rebutted by any evidence from the respondent. Accordingly, this court finds that the applicant has, on a balance of probabilities, proved that his detention beyond 48 hours was unlawful and unconstitutional, which infringed on his right to personal liberty,” the judge ruled.

She also rejected the argument that the police delayed charging the suspect in court because the investigation was incomplete. “The fact that the investigations are not yet complete…is not a legitimate justification for failure to comply with the provisions of Article 23(4) (b) of the Constitution to bring the suspect before a court of law within 48 hours of the arrest or detention. This is so because completion of an investigation into the matter for which a person is arrested or detained is not a requirement for processing that person to Court under the above provision…The provision does not create any exceptions, and the reason for that is that the police officers, as already indicated, have powers to release the person on police bond,” the judge ruled. 

Meanwhile, the judge declined to dismiss the charges against Walusimbi because he had failed to prove that he had been tortured. She said Walusimbi had relied on medical evidence which indicated the presence of blood in his urine, chest pain, and difficulty in breathing, but failed to attribute the same to state agents. 

“Whilst this Court has carefully considered that medical report given the circumstances, it does not find it conclusive or satisfactory to establish that the applicant was subjected to torture by the police…It is entirely plausible that such injuries could have arisen from that altercation rather than from any subsequent ill-treatment while in custody. In light of these alternative and plausible explanations, this Court cannot definitively rule out non-tortious causes of the medical findings relied upon by the applicant,” the judgment reads in part.