Businessman appeals against dismissal of torture case

KAMPALA, UGANDA: Businessman Francis Matovu commonly known as Butto has raised seven grounds in his appeal against the High Court’s decision to dismiss his torture case against the government and Speaker of Parliament Anita Among.

In his appeal filed on Thursday in the Court of Appeal in Kampala, Butto is appealing against the July 27th, 2022 decision issued by Civil Division Judge Musa Ssekaana to dismiss his case with costs for lack of sufficient evidence to prove the allegations therein.

The dismissal followed an application in which Butto had accused the government through its security officers to have tortured him when he was in the custody of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence allegedly on the orders of Anita Among. Butto says that he was arrested by policemen dressed in police uniform around Speke Road in Kampala and later whisked off to Mbuya Military Barracks in a police pick-up double cabin.

He noted that he was forcefully grabbed, assaulted, and checked by the policemen who had arrested him and they later took his money totaling 27,000 dollars (96.2 million shillings), which he had obtained that very day after selling his Land cruiser vehicle registration number UAZ 188F to Faruq Kibirige.

He added that while in custody, he was reportedly beaten with a wire rod and sticks on his stomach, chest, legs, and back, soaked in extremely cold water for a very long time, and hanged with a rope tied to the ceiling while his hands were held together by handcuffs which caused severe wounds on his hands.

Butto asked to be compensated with 500 million shillings for the torture inflicted on him and the monies stolen from him.

But Justice Musa Ssekaana dismissed the case for lack of sufficient evidence to prove torture and condemned him to pay the costs of the case to the Speaker of Parliament. He said whereas Butto had submitted some pictures showing scars on his body alleging torture, there was nothing collaborating such evidence and those scars could have been caused by anything not torture.

In his appeal, Butto states that Ssekaana erred in law and fact when he held that the evidence that he adduced in his affidavits does not prove that he was tortured by the government agents.

“The learned trial judge erred in law and fact in failing to evaluate the evidence on the court record and as a result of which his decision occasioned a miscarriage of justice when he held that the appellant failed to prove that there was a violation of his fundamental rights and freedoms by the respondents” reads the appeal in part.

It adds that the learned trial judge erred in law and in fact when he held that the evidence which Butto adduced in his affidavits does not prove that his money was taken by the armed personnel at the time of his arrest.

According to Butto, the trial judge is further being faulted for having erred in law and in fact when he failed to make a finding on his prayers for an award of general damages, exemplary damages, and compensatory damages.

Justice Ssekaana is also faulted for having found that Butto failed to show that he had a cause of action or any personal liberty violations against Butto by Anita Among whom he awarded the costs of the case.

Butto through his lawyers of Sanywa and Wabwire Advocates now wants the Court of Appeal to allow his appeal and the Judgement and orders of the High court to be set aside and the respondents directed to pay him costs of the case.

On November 12th 2021, Matovu was charged together with two others for offensive communication stemming from their alleged involvement in reports on social media accusing Anita Among of corruption and influence peddling

Matovu was subsequently remanded to Kitalya together with his co-accused namely; the head of Mobilization for National Unity Platform party in Eastern Uganda, Moses Bigirwa, and journalists Pidson Kareire and Moses Mugalula. He was later granted bail by Chief Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu on November 19, 2021.