Kampala terror suspects denied bail again

Four of the seven Somali nationals accused of aiding the Al-Shabab militants to carry out a second bomb attack on Kampala in 2014 have been denied bail for the second time on account that they have no permanent residence in Uganda.
The suspects are: Muhammed Abdul Khadir Hirsi, Abdi Abdullah Bootan, Mohammed Ahmed Gele and Mohammad Yusuf Farah.
Justice Ezekiel Muhanguzi of the High Court’s International Crimes Division dismissed their bail application, observing that much as they have spent more than 360 days on remand in Luzira prison, they are already committed for trial and the case is at the pre-trial stage.
Justice Muhanguzi also said the offences with which the suspects are charged are “very grave and attract a death penalty on conviction” yet the sureties they have presented are not substantial enough to compel them to return to court as and when they are required.

Upon this background, the judge denied them bail and ordered that they be taken back to prison for further remand until December 15, 2016 when they will return to court for their pre-trial session, a step that confirms charges, against them before the case file is forwarded to a panel of three judges for the hearing.
They were arrested in September 2014 from a hotel in Kisenyi, Kampala, after a tip-off to police by the residents that the accused were allegedly coordinating activities and rendering support to Al-Shabab and Al-Qaeda.
They first applied for bail in December 2014 but their application was dismissed by Justice Moses Mukiibi after they failed to prove exceptional circumstances such as either being gravely ill or too old to handle prison conditions.

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