Lawyer Male Mabirizi has been released from Luzira Upper prison in Kampala after serving more than a year jail term handed to him following his conviction for contempt of court.
The spokesperson of Uganda prison services Frank Baine has told media that Mr. Mabirizi was released on Saturday morning after finishing his sentence. He said Mabirizi’s sentence was among those that qualify for remission.
“Remission is a third of the sentence after serving one month in prison. So he must have served a year of his jail term and that’s what the sentence required,” said Baine.
In a phone interview with this reporter on Saturday, the excited maverick lawyer said he was happy to be free. He said that during his time in prison, he filed a combined total of 110 cases against the Government of Uganda and that he would continue fighting for rule of law in this country.
Mabirizi was on February 15, 2022 found guilty of contempt of Court by High Court Civil Division Judge Musa Ssekaana.
This was after the Attorney General informed Justice Ssekaana that Mabirizi had made posts on social media where he accused him (Ssekaana ) of being biased, incompetent and not able to head the smallest court of a family, and one who didn’t qualify for any award from Uganda Law Society and even for a Grade Two Magistrate .
The Attorney General also informed Court that the rest of the posts were crafted in a vulgarised language and that Mabirizi had described a fine of Shs300 million that was issued against him earlier by Ssekaana also for contempt of Court as null and void, which statement government said was an attack on the Judiciary.
As a result, a warrant of arrest was accordingly issued and security directed to arrest Mabirizi upon sight so that he could be sent to prison to serve his jail term. He was subsequently arrested on February 22nd, 2022 and taken to Kitalya prison before being transferred to Luzira prison where he has emerged today.
Since his arrest, Mabirizi filed several applications seeking to regain his freedom but were unsuccessful.
