Political prisoners are free to push for plea bargains to secure release-NUP
KAMPALA.The opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) has said its jailed supporters are free to push for plea bargain after years in detention.
NUP says the decision to push for plea bargain reflects the harsh realities of prolonged imprisonment rather than an admission of guilty.
The Wednesday party’s statement follows reports that some of its jailed supporters have opted for plea bargains to secure their freedom, a move that has divided opinion within opposition circles.
NUP said more than 150 of its supporters remain in detention on what it called politically motivated charges, with some having spent years on remand without trial despite ongoing legal efforts to secure their release.
“Our legal teams have done and continue to do everything within the law to secure their release,” the party said. “Indeed, we have secured the release of hundreds of our people who were illegally detained during and after the recent elections.”
The party said that after repeated bail denials and what it described as President Yoweri Museveni’s recent remarks discouraging judicial officers from granting bail, some detainees had concluded that plea bargaining offered the quickest route out of prison.
“Some of our comrades have opted to plead guilty or enter into plea bargains for offences everyone knows they did not commit,” the statement said.
“By taking this step, these comrades are not in any way admitting that they committed any offences, but they consider it to be the quickest path available for them to get out of the long periods of detention without trial.”
The statement comes against the backdrop of several high-profile opposition detentions that have become symbols of the dispute over Uganda’s criminal justice system.
NUP Secretary General David Lewis Rubongoya recently said supporter Yasin Ssekitoleko, also known as “Machete”, and others have spent nearly six years in detention without trial.
He said they had never appeared before a judge to have their cases heard and alleged that despite a Supreme Court directive transferring such cases to civilian courts, the files had not been moved.
The party has also continued campaigning for the release of supporters including Alex Waiswa Mufumbiro, Benjamin Akiso, head of NUP institutions, Olivia Lutaaya, Sauda Madaada, Doreen Kaija, Madinah Namaganda and Hannifah Nakibuuka, who is charged alongside Butambala County MP Muwanga Kivumbi.
In recent weeks, Rubongoya has also visited NUP supporters held at Luzira Women’s Prison and Jinja Main and Jinja Remand prisons, while the party has called for mandatory bail for another group of supporters charged with unlawful drilling, saying they have spent more than 180 days on remand.
While reaffirming that it does not encourage anyone to incriminate themselves, NUP said it would not condemn supporters who accept plea bargains after years behind bars.
“Our position on this matter remains that while we never encourage anyone to incriminate themselves, we never judge those who, being weighed down by the numerous challenges that come with illegal detention, choose to plead guilty and come out of jail,” the statement said.
It urged supporters to understand those who take that path, adding that those who continue to insist on their innocence despite lengthy detention “are even bigger heroes who deserve to be celebrated and supported every day.”
Under Uganda’s criminal justice system, plea bargaining allows an accused person to negotiate an agreement with prosecutors, usually involving a guilty plea in exchange for a reduced sentence or other concessions
The government has promoted the mechanism as a means of reducing case backlogs and prison congestion.
The Ugandan government has consistently denied allegations that opposition supporters are detained because of their political affiliation, maintaining that prosecutions are based on evidence of criminal conduct.
NUP, however, insists many of its supporters remain in prison because of their political activities.