Kampala bomb suspects denied bail for second time

A bail request by four of seven Somali nationals accused of aiding and abetting an Al-Shabab attempt to carry out a second bomb attack on Kampala in 2014, has been denied a second time because they have no permanent residence in Uganda.

International Crimes Division court Judge Ezekiel Muhanguzi dismissed the applications of Muhammed Abdul Khadir Hirsi, Abdi Abdullah Bootan, Mohammed Ahmed Gele and Mohammad Yusuf Farah.

The judge noted that much as they have spent more than 360 days on remand in Luzira prison, they are already committed and the case is at pre-trial stage.

Justice Muhanguzi also based his ruling on the fact that the offences with which they are charged are very grave and attract a death penalty on conviction, yet the sureties they have also presented are not substantial enough to compel them to return to court as and when they are required.

They were taken back to prison 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 justices for hearing.

They were arrested in September 2014 from a Hotel in  Kisenyi- Kampala after a tip off by  residents to police that the accused were allegedly coordinating activities and rendering support to  Al-Shabab and Al-Qaeda.

They were also first denied bail in December 2014 by Justice Moses Mukiibi after failing to prove exceptional circumstances of either being gravely ill or too old to handle prison conditions.