By Peter Seebulime
Buganda Road court has today adjourned re-trial of the matter in which Brian Isiko, a student of Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), is charged with allegedly sending obscene text messages to Kabarole Member of Parliament Sylvia Rwabwogo, after the MP missed appearing in court.
Today Rwabogo was supposed to turn up for cross examination since her evidence of text messages had been turned down by the magistrate but she never surfaced without even giving clear reason or communication from her lawyers.
Rwabwogo’s not appearing in court prompted grade one magistrate Stella Amabilis to give a last adjournment of January 20, 2020.
Justice Amabilis emphasised that if Rwabwogo doesn’t turn up on the date of adjournment she will dismiss the case.
However, Isiko’s lawyer, counsel Wasswa Ramandhan, argued that court should have just dismissed the case today, because Rwabogo has shown that she can’t come to court after missing today.
It is alleged that between November 2017 and June 2018 at an unknown location in Kampala, Isiko used a computer to send love messages, which were obscene, rude, lustful or indecent to the person of Ms Rwabwoogo, and using SMS messages, he repeatedly attempted to disturb the peace or right to privacy of Ms Rwabwogo without a legitimate purpose.
However, the first time some of the alleged Love Messages Isiko sent to Rwabwogo were read out in court, the country went into a frenzy because of the sensationalism of some of the alleged SMSs and saucy texts.
One of the alleged messages reads thus;
““I can give my life for my country. But also I can take a life for love. Even a thousand men and more, I would battle. I would fight for you.”
Isiko was in July 2018 convicted by a magistrate’s court on what was taken as his own plea of guilty and sentenced to two years in jail, a decision that touched off a public uproar and on appeal to the High Court, the judgment was quashed and a retrial was ordered.
During a retrial session in November, Buganda Road Court Chief Magistrate’s Court heard that Isiko had continued sending similar messages to Rwobwogo in what the prosecution said is a violation of the orders handed down by the High Court.
Isiko’s lawyers, however, argued that the prosecution should not bring up new evidence because what they are supposed to go through is a retrial based on the evidence collected earlier and not a fresh trial.
In her evidence-in-chief before court, Rwabwogo said she was provoked to report the matter because, as a ‘psychologist who studied how the human mind works’, she felt, judging by Isiko’s messages, that he was bound to either harm her or himself.
“If someone says he can die for his country that is understandable. But, if someone claims they can kill for love then I cannot take that lightly,” Rwabwogo said.
