Two of the five suspected members of the Allied Democratic Force, who are due to be presented to the High Court in Kampala this Friday, have applied for amnesty from government.
Mohammed Sekulima and Fatuma Nantongo were last week escorted to the Amnesty Commission by the police where they confessed to involvement in rebel activity. They begged for pardon and applied for amnesty.
Moses Sakira, the Deputy Director of the Director of Criminal Investigations in the police force, says the Amnesty was granted.
However the duo was not released and their current location is a mystery.
The amnesty application took place just hours after High Court Judge Vincent Kibuuka Musoke ordered the Chief of the Defence Forces, Aronda Nyakairima to produce the five ADF suspects in court.
Mohammed Sekulima and Fatuma Nantongo were held without trial at the cells of the Joint Anti-Terrorism Taskforce for a year.
Last week a human rights lawyer, Ladislaus Rwakafuzi, filed a writ of habeas corpus for Sekulima and Nantongo. A writ of habeas corpus is a legal action through which a person can seek relief from unlawful detention.
Following the filing of the petition, the two suspects were produced at Jinja Road Police Station to answer to charges of terrorism. Now, they appear to have disappeared.
Marusi Nanziri, Fatuma Nantongo's sister, is upset by the news of her sister's disappearance. She says that after an entire year of searching, she found Nantongo on Thursday last week and spoke to her.
Nanziri says her sister was in good health, although it was evident that she had lost a lot of weight.
Nathan Twinomugisha, the Principal Legal Officer at Amnesty Commission, says he does not know where Sekulima and Nantongo are. He says they are due to receive their amnesty certificates this Wednesday.
ADF Suspects Granted Amnesty and Disappear Again
27 Jul 2009, 16:35 1644 Views Kampala, Uganda Crime Report
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