The general court martial has released political prisoners Nubian Li, Eddie Mutwe, Dan Magic and 15 other members of the National Unity Platform (NUP) who were arrested in Kalangala last year during Robert Kyagulanyi alias Bobi Wine’s campaign trail.
The 18 members have been set free on Monday as confirmed from NUP spokesperson Joel Ssenyonyi who said in a Facebook post that;
“Nubian Li, Eddie Mutwe, Dan Magic and the rest of the reamining team members who were arrested in Kalangala last year have all been released on bail. While this is a sigh of relief, we still have to press on in demanding for the release of all political prisoners held in different prisons across the country. Welcome back comrades.”
Last month, the General Court Martial granted bail to 17 supporters of NUP while 18 others were further remanded.
The Court Martial Chairman Lt Gen Andrew Gutti who released the 17 on a non-cash bail of Shs20 million said they were set free among others, because they were sick and needed treatment outside of detention.
The group was arrested in December last year and prosecution alleges that all the suspects were on January 3, at Makerere Kavule Kigundu zone found in possession of four rounds of ammunition which is a monopoly of the Defense Forces. Through the court-martial they were charged and remanded to Kitalya prison where they have so far spent over six months.
“Nubian Li, Eddie Mutwe, Dan Magic and the rest of the team members arrested in Kalangala last year have been released on bail. While this is a sigh of relief, we still have to press on and demand for the release of all political prisoners across the country,” Nakawa West MP, Mr Joel Ssenyonyi who doubles as NUP spokesperson said on Monday.
The suspects are part of the 49 Bobi Wine supporters who were arrested on December 30, 2020 in Kalangala District and arraigned before the chief magistrate in Masaka City in January 2021 where they were granted bail. However, they were re-arrested and detained at the Makindye Military backs for days before they were arraigned in the army court where they were charged afresh and remanded to Kitalya prison.
Their bail application has previously been blocked by the state on claims that they would incite violence.
