Court orders Mabirizi arrest, to spend 18 months in jail

KAMPALA, UGANDA: Court in Kampala has ordered for the immediate arrest of city lawyer Hassan Male Mabirizi to serve his 18-month jail term over contempt of court for the second time and his continued attack on the judges.

The order to have Mabirizi arrested was issued by Civil Division High Court, Judge Musa Ssekaana after an application by State Attorney, Ms. Patricia Mutesi over the continued misconduct of the lawyer.

Mr. Mutesi argued that despite a standing court order warning to desist from attacking judicial officers, the controversial lawyer has continued making contemptuous posts on his social media platforms against Justice Ssekaana and the Judiciary at large thus seeking to have him committed to the civil prison as punishment for his actions.

According to Mutesi, Mabirizi accused Ssekaana of being biased, incompetent and unable to head the smallest court of a family and one who doesn’t qualify for any award from Uganda Law Society and even for a Grade Two Magistrate. Court also heard that the rest of the posts were crafted in vulgarised language.

She also noted that Mabirizi described the fine of Shillings 300 million imposed on him by Justice Ssekaana last month for contempt of Court as null and void, saying this wasn’t only an attack on the court but the entire Judiciary. Mutesi asked the court to find Mabirizi guilty of contempt of court and commit him to civil prison.

However, Mabirizi’s lawyer Noel Nuwe asked the Court to give his client an opportunity to appear and explain if he made those posts in violation of the earlier court order. Nuwe argued that Mabirizi was not aware of the court ruling that barred him from attacking judicial officers and only came to know about it on Tuesday morning and needed more time to defend himself.

However, in his summarized ruling, Justice Ssekaana noted that Mabirizi never presented himself nor filed any affidavits denying the accusations even when he was summoned. He explained that given the circumstances, the court was left with no option but to order for his arrest on sight to serve 18 months in civil prison.

Justice Ssekaana noted that he was forced to make the brief ruling to avoid further attacks, adding that he will deliver a detailed ruling supporting his decision in due course. Ssekaana and Mabirizi’s woes started way back in 2019 during the hearing of an application challenging the decision by Justice Simon Byabakama to continue working as the Electoral Commission Chairperson without relinquishing his powers as a Justice of the Court of Appeal.

In the proceedings, Ssekaana told Mabirizi to submit his rubbish when he accused him of bias. Mabirizi vowed never to appear before Justice Ssekaana voluntarily. In 2020, Ivan Samuel Ssebadduka earned himself three years in jail for contempt of court when he called Supreme Court Justices fools.