Five suspects in death of Finnish national seek bail
The suspects in the dock at Buganda Road Court on Thursday. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA
Kampala- Buganda Road Chief Magistrates’ Court will next Tuesday pronounce itself on whether or not to grant bail to five people accused of causing the death of a Finnish national.
This is after both state and defence lawyers submitted their bail application arguments in favour and against their release yesterday.
The accused are Faridah Nagayi, Fatuma Kabagambe, one Nassifu, Caroline Alinda, and Appolo Kyabagye, a senior intelligence officer with the Internal Security Organisation (ISO).
They face four counts of manslaughter, drug trafficking, forgery and conspiracy to commit the offence. They deny the charges.
In a session presided over by Chief Magistrate James Ereemye, the accused, through their lawyers, each presented two sureties who tendered in their identification documents as guarantee that they will ensure that the suspects do not skip court.
In his submission, the defence lawyer, Mr Muhammad Mbabazi, said court has discretion to free a person on bail.
In reply, the prosecution led by Ms Viola Tusigwire told court that investigations are complete and that the state is ready to conduct an expeditious trial to effect justice. She also queried the places of residence of some of the sureties, arguing that they are out of court’s jurisdiction. Ms Tusigwire also said some of the suspects’ National Identity Cards were duplicates.
While setting the date for the ruling, Mr Ereemye said he will scrutinise the identification documents presented to court.
In February, Daily Monitor reported that the two men died in Sheraton and Pearl of Africa hotels that are about a kilometre apart.
Petteri died at Pearl of Africa Hotel on February 5, and Alex Sebastian, 41, a Swedish national, died in his room at Sheraton Hotel on February 6.
