Principal Judge, Hon. Justice Dr. Yorokamu Bamwine Visit to Kigo prison
Inmates at Kigo Prison petitioned the Hon. Principal Judge, Hon. Justice Dr. Yorokamu Bamwine over the Judiciary's newly introduced plea bargain package as a means of conflict resolution, specifically criticizing the tone it is rendered.
The inmates complained that the Judiciary plea bargain package - which includes the accused and the accuser and the state attorney sitting on roundtable and agreeing on a 'suitable' punishment for the defendant - wasn't working for them.
Led by Mr. Muzamil Balitebya, the inmates presented a petition to the Principal Judge, lamenting that the state-brief lawyers they are given are not committed to them or their cases.
They disapproved of the long term sentences of 100 years some of them were\r\n‘condemned’ to and the ‘torture’ they suffered at police’s hands during arrests.
The\r\nJudiciary introduced the package to reduce their heavy backlog and to decongest\r\nprisons. But the inmates say some Judges disregarded the sentences the\r\ndefendant signed against (during the plea -bargain) and instead allocated them\r\nlonger sentences.
The\r\nPrincipal Judge, in his response, said: "In all fairness, plea-bargain is\r\nbetter than the full trial, because you (the accused) get a chance to\r\nparticipate in the sentence the Judge will deliver to you. It saves time and\r\nmoney. And generally you (the accused) get a lesser sentence, but we won’t let\r\nyou off the hook just like that.”
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"We have to be fair to the aggressed and the\r\ncommunity. If someone has defiled a little girl, as young as three years, you\r\ndon’t expect to sign against two years because there is plea-bargain and expect\r\nthe Judge to grant that (sentence),” Hon. Justice Dr. Bamwine said.
Article was published in the new vision.
Posted 30th, May 2016
