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Gulu, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The International Crimes Division of the High Court (ICD) has fixed a date for passing a ruling on a no-case to answer submission made by former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) Commander Thomas Kwoyelo alias Latoni’s defence lawyers.
In a notice issued by the ICD Deputy Registrar Juliet Hatanga to the state prosecutors, defence lawyers and victims’ counsel, the ruling will be held on December 18 at Gulu High Court Circuit in Gulu City.
The ruling will be delivered by the four-member panel of justices led by Michael Elubu, Duncan Gaswaga, Stephen Mubiru and alternate Judge Dr. Andrew Bashaija and comes nearly seven months after the state closed its case.
In April this year, the state concluded its case after presenting a total of 53 prosecution witnesses to pin the former LRA commander for the 93 counts of charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity he is facing.
Kwoyelo’s defence lawyers, shortly after the state closed down its case submitted a no case to answer and asked the court for more time to study all the evidence tendered by the prosecution.
A no-case-to-answer submission is made when the defence considers that the prosecution case does not support a finding of guilt and that the court should dismiss the charge without the defence having to present a case.
Kwoyelo’s lead defence lawyer Charles Dalton Opwonya, told Uganda Radio Network in an interview over the weekend that the ruling will determine whether their client should offer defence evidence in the trial or be set free.
Opwonya says if the court finds the accused has no case to answer, he will be set free to go home adding that as defence lawyers, they will apply for bail once he is found to have a case to answer.
He however notes that their client at the moment doesn’t have enough defence evidence to tender in court because he has been facilitated by the government to gather evidence since he has been in custody.
Opwonya says they are hopeful that after a long time, their client will be set free from custody since the prosecution didn’t give substantial evidence against Kwoyelo.
Jane Amooti, the victim’s defence lawyer notes that they have so far received over 190 applications from victims of Kwoyelo’s alleged crimes in Amuru district who have expressed willingness to participate in the trial.
Amooti says they expect that the court will put Kwoyelo on defence since some of the evidence availed by the prosecution in the court at least pins him on some of the 93 counts of charges he is facing.
She highlighted sexual violence as one of the charges which has sufficient evidence against Kwoyelo.
Kwoyelo whose trial commenced in September 2018 has been in custody at Luzira Maximum Prison since 2009 after being captured by the Ugandan Army in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in March same year.
He is the first among the top LRA commanders to face a domestic court on crimes related to sexual violence, murder, kidnap, robbery and pillaging allegedly committed between 1993 and 2005 in Pabbo and Lamogi sub-counties in the present-day Amuru district.
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