Court Grants Lawyer Male Mabirizi Mandatory Bail

Kampala — Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court has granted city lawyer Hassan Male Mabirizi mandatory bail after he spent 60 days on remand without his trial commencing.

Hassan Male Mabirizi appears in the dock at Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court (PHOTO/Henry Jjemba).

Hassan Male Mabirizi appears in the dock at Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court

Chief Magistrate Ritah Neumbe Kidasa ordered Mabirizi to deposit Shs 2 million cash in court and produce two sureties with valid National Identity Cards, who will each execute a cash bond of Shs5 million.

Through his sureties, Mabirizi is required to provide details of his permanent place of abode, which will be verified by an officer appointed by the court.

The court also ordered Mabirizi to deposit his passport and barred him from leaving Uganda without written permission pending the conclusion of his trial.

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He was further directed not to directly or indirectly interfere with prosecution witnesses and to appear before court in person on every date to which the case is adjourned or fixed for hearing. Failure to comply with the conditions could result in cancellation of his bail.

The court, however, declined Mabirizi’s application to have the case dismissed for want of prosecution and also declined to dismiss the charges against him.

Earlier this year, the same court rejected Mabirizi’s bail application after he failed to satisfy the court that he had met the required conditions for his release.

Among the reasons cited was that some of his proposed sureties had presented expired National Identity Cards without evidence that they had applied for renewal.

Mabirizi had also failed to present his National Identity Card, instead relying on an LC1 letter, which the court found insufficient to establish his Ugandan nationality.

Mabirizi faces four charges under the Computer Misuse Act, including malicious information and hate speech. The charges arise from statements allegedly made on his TikTok account targeting Chief Justice Flavian Zeija and Court of Appeal Justice Musa Ssekaana.