The International Crimes Division of the High Court has confirmed 20 charges against former ADF Leader Jamilu Mukulu and 37 others .
This is after court has perused and evaluated DPP’s evidence so as to come to a conclusion that it’s strong enough to sustain all the 20 counts at the Trial.
Justice Eva Luswata has confirmed counts of Terrorism , Murder, aggrevated robbery , attempted murder and belonging to a terrorism group -ADF and she ruled that there is sufficinet evidence to belief that Mukulu and his 37 co-suspects committed the offenses.
However justice Luswata has clarified that at this stage , she cannot go ahead to conclude whether Mukulu and co-suspects are guilty of the offenses as this can only be done after a full trial has been conducted .
In the result Mukulu and 37 others have been committed for trial before a panel of 3 justices of the same court before whom they will also plead to the charges.
The DPP’s approved evidence introduces Jamilu Mukulu as the leader of ADF and Salaf Muslim community in Uganda who would give orders to his 37 co-suspects to carry out raids and commit murders to other Muslims communities with whom they had disagreements in ideologies on which direction to face while carrying out prayers.
Still in the evidence re-produced in the judge’s ruling read to court by Asst registrar Stellah Atingu , it’s stated that some Muslims were praying facing the Northern direction towards the Kibra while others would pray facing the south. That its this religious conflict opportunity that Mukulu’s ADF which is based in the UK, Kenya , Tanzania , Uganda and DRC explored to make recruits, trainings and acquire guns and finances to advance it’s political ideologies.
Among the prominent murders Mukulu and his group carried out are that of 2 sheikhs; Dakitoor Muwaya and Yunus Abubakar Mandanga in Mayuge and Bugiri districts respectively and the murder of 2 police officers Muzamir Babale and Karim Tenywa from Bugiri police station .
The group is further said to have robbed guns, ammunitions, a gold weighing machine , millions of money and attempting to take away the lives of many people.
Prosecution led by Asst . DPP Lino Angunzu contends that Mukulu and the group committed these offenses in various districts such as Kampala , Wakiso, Mayuge , Budaka and Mbale among others and that the indiscriminate attacks instilled fear in the public to influence it for either a social , political, economic or religious aim.
Prosecution fruther states that several exbhits including explosives, literature related to activities of ADF, car number plates , confession statements of some of the suspects were recovered from the houses of the suspects and will be adduced at tge trial .
Mukulu and co-suspects were arrested in March 2015 from Dar-es-Salaam Tanzania and within Uganda and committed to the International Crimes Division of the Highcourt in September 2015.
The group now returns back to Luzira prison awaiting trial.
However immediately after listening to the ruling, Jamilu Mukulu raised his hand up and put court on notice that he is going to appeal against the ruling.
Mukulu had also earlier raised several complaints regarding what he terms as intimidation of his lawyers by the DPP and his staff for which he sought for Court’s intervention.
