Uganda People's Congress (UPC) president, Olara Otunnu has sued government to force police to release the party's national deputy secretary for mobilization Dan Oola Odiya.
The suit, Olara Otunnu Vs Attorney General, was filed at the High court in Gulu on Wednesday, June 15, 2016. Otunnu contends that the arrest and subsequent detention of Odiya was dogged with illegalities. Odiya was arrested on June 8 in Gulu and was on June 15, 2016 charged with treason in the High court at Gulu.
Odiya, according to security agencies, is accused of having had a hand in last month's attack on a local defence unit detach in Opit, Gulu district where two people were killed and a number of guns stolen. Odiya was a student leader of the Acholi Makerere University Students Association in the early 2000s.
Police recently said that the 'suspected criminals', who attacked Gulu Central police station on Sunday, June 12, 2016, killing a UPDF and a police officer, tried to rescue Odiya from the police cells.
In the suit, Otunnu through his attorneys Kwesigabo, Bamwine and Walubiri advocates, wants Dan Oola Odiya released from jail and compensated for violations of his constitutional rights enshrined in article 23 (3) (4) (5) (7) of the constitution. Otunnu claims Odiya was arrested on June 8, 2016, detained for eight days before he was charged in court. He was never informed of the charges against him, denied access to a medical doctor, medical facilities and a lawyer.
In the affidavit, Otunnu narrates that Dan Oola Odiya was arrested on Wednesday, June 8, 2016 at around 8:00 pm by men in plain clothes along Coronation road, Gulu town on his way home. He was bundled into a car and driven to an unknown destination. He explains that throughout that night and the following day, Odiya's wife, relatives and friends searched for his whereabouts to no avail till they discovered him at Gulu Central police station.
According to Otunnu, on June 9, 2016, upon his discovery at Gulu Central police station, only his wife was allowed to speak to him.
"That I [Otunnu] went to Gulu CPS on June 9, 2016 to see Dan Oola Odiya and met the deputy commander of that station who admitted to me that what took place on Coronation road on June 8, 2016 was a police arrest and promised to allow me to speak to Dan Oola, but after waiting in vain till 9:00pm, I was advised by the regional police commander, who had personally come to Gulu CPS, that I would only be able to see Dan at his office the following day," the affidavit reads.
Otunnu says that on June 10, 2016, he went to office of the regional police commander, Gulu where he waited from 7:00am to 11:30am, but left before being allowed to see Dan Oola Odiya.
"That thereafter I went to the Gulu CPS to meet Dan Oala Odiya's wife and other relatives and eventually at 12:00 noon I was allowed to see Dan for only 10 minutes," he wrote in the affidavit.
"That during my brief interaction with Dan Oola and in my meeting with wife and relatives, I established that; he was not informed by the police the reason for his arrest, denied access to Mr James Onen, a lawyer of his choice, he was denied access to a medical doctor to assess his health status given his ulcers and other ailments," he said.
He claims that is a total breach of the Constitution, particularly article 23, for which Odiya should be compensated.
"As a lawyer by training, all the foregoing facts disclose a case of violation and threats of violation of Dan Odiya's fundamental rights and freedoms and is entitled to redress from court," Otunnu wrote.
ssekika@observer.ug
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