Former Tabliq Muslim sect leader Sheikh Yunus Kamoga and three co-accused have this afternoon been handed life sentences at the High Court in Kampala for engaging in acts of terrorism.
Sheikh Kamoga and three others were sentenced by judges Percy Tuhaise Jane Kiggundu and Ezekiel Muhanguzi who had on Monday found him and his co-accused not guilty in the notorious murders of Muslim clerics.
Along with fellow leader sheikhs Siraje Kawooya, Mudde Bukenya and Fahad Kalungi, Kamoga will serve life sentences after they were convicted for engaging in terrorism acts.
The other two individuals also convicted of terrorism on Monday, Abdul Salaam Sekayanja and Fahad Kalungi have been handed 30-year sentences.
The ‘Kamoga 14’ were, in 2015, charged with the murders of sheikhs Mustafa Bahiga and Ibrahim Hassan Kirya, and attempted murder Sheikh Haruna Jemba. They were also charged with terrorism.
Their trial commenced in October 2016.
In sentencing, the judges said the leaders ought to have used their leadership position to bring harmony in the Muslim community instead of indulging in terrorism acts.
The judges said that in light of how grave the offence is, they decided on a deterrent sentence in order to send out a message to those who abuse their leadership positions.
They also ruled that the offences were pre-mediated and plotted by the convicts in mosques and elsewhere.
Kamoga was found to have issued death threats to some of the victims and survivors through fliers.
The High Court yesterday freed 8 of the 14 suspects after finding them not guilty of all charges.
Acquitted are: Hamza Kasirye, Twaha Ssekitto, Amir Kinene, Hakeem Kinene, Abdul Rashid Ssematimba, Rashid Jingo Musa Isa Mubiru and Yiga George William.
Details to follow.
Details to follow.
