By Nasser Kayanja
The Chief Magistrate’s Court at Buganda Road has denied bail to lawyer and activist Hassan Male Mabirizi, citing failure to meet the identification requirements set under the Constitutional Bail Guidelines.
In her ruling, Chief Magistrate Ritah Neumbe Kidasa dismissed Mabirizi’s bail application and ordered that he be returned to Luzira Prison as police investigations into his case continue.
The court examined the sureties presented by Mabirizi, who included some of his family members and a friend. However, the magistrate found that they had submitted expired national identity cards without evidence showing that renewal was underway.
The court also noted that Mabirizi himself did not present a copy of his National Identity Card. Instead, he provided only his National Identification Number (NIN) and requested the prosecution to confirm his details with the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA).
Magistrate Kidasa ruled that this did not satisfy the legal requirement. She explained that Paragraph 12A of the Constitutional Bail Guidelines clearly requires a copy of the applicant’s National ID, and that providing only a NIN does not meet the mandatory standard.
As a result, the court dismissed the bail request for failing to comply with the established bail guidelines.
Mabirizi remains on remand at Luzira Prison where he is facing charges of malicious information and hate speech. The charges are linked to alleged posts on TikTok that reportedly targeted Flavian Zeija, the Chief Justice, and Musa Ssekaana, a judge of the Court of Appeal.