Ugandan judge condemns anti-gay government bungling 1

Gay - Law, Uganda - Politics • Tags: , , , , ,

You might recall that Sexual Minorities Uganda sued Ethics Minister, Simon Lokodo, for breaking up an LGBTI meeting in Entebbe three months ago.

Well, that case got under way today and had to be postponed till July 6 because the defence didn’t have its tees crossed or eyes dotted despite having had three months to prepare.

In what could be a lifeline for them, Justice Eldad Mwangusya, the presiding judge, couldn’t hide his irritation at the disorganized nature of the government’s side as well as Minister Lokodo’s bully boy tactics which prompted SMUG to sue.

The judge’s rather unusual, pre-emptive, public complaint went something like this (and I am paraphrasing  from a third-party as I wasn’t in court):

“These [gay] people have a right of assembly. Why are these workshops being closed [when those closing them] don’t have data about what is going in them? If you are not aware of what the meetings will be about, why not send in your spies and see what is going on instead of closing them down without any good evidence that they are acting improperly? Some of these cases are a waste of time and resources, …”

Amen, Amen, Amen one is inclined to say about the judge’s remarks. Yet, therein lies the government’s potential temporary reprieve. It is surely difficult to see how a judge who has expressed what he thinks about a court case he hasn’t heard yet can hear it out dispassionately.

It should be interesting to see what the defence’s case will be. My prediction is that they are going to chop and turn a while longer and then they will ultimately fail to defend the case, losing it by default. They haven’t got a legal leg to stand on and they know it.

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