By Former Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) leader Jamil Mukulu is seeking to halt proceedings against him at the International Crimes Division of the High Court, claiming he was tortured and unlawfully transferred from Tanzania to Uganda.
The hearing, scheduled for next week on Wednesday, will focus on an application filed by Mukulu, who is facing a lengthy list of terrorism-related charges along with 37 co-accused individuals. His legal team contends that the court must first rule on the legality of his arrest and extradition before moving forward with the main trial.
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Mukulu argues that his constitutional rights were grossly violated both during his arrest and while in detention and he has petitioned the court to dismiss the case until these issues are resolved. He has sued the Attorney General over the matter.
Mukulu was apprehended in Tanzania in 2015 after years on the run. He had been on Interpol’s most-wanted list and was regarded as one of the key figures behind Uganda’s most violent extremist activity in the past two decades.
Authorities accuse the former ADF leader of orchestrating a series of deadly attacks across Uganda between 2000 and 2010, including killings, attempted murders, aggravated robbery, and the theft of weapons. The prosecution maintains that Mukulu issued direct orders to his followers to carry out violence in pursuit of ideological and religious objectives.
Among the charges are the high-profile murders of Sheikh Dakitoor Muwaya in Mayuge and Sheikh Yunus Abubakar Mandanga in Bugiri District. He is also linked to the deaths of two police officers in Bugiri and the theft of security-related equipment and money from civilians.
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Jamil Mukulu was born David Steven in the village of Ntoke in the Kayunga District of Uganda on 17 April 1964, to Lutakome Sserwada and Aisha Nakiyemba. Little is known about his early life, except for the fact that he earned a degree in business management in Nairobi, Kenya.
Although born into a Christian family, Steven soon converted to Islam, changed his name to “Jamil Mukulu”, and studied abroad in Saudi Arabia, where he was introduced to fundamentalist Islamic ideologies, such as Salafism, and became radicalized.[4] When he returned to Africa, Mukulu became involved in the conflict between the Ugandan Muslim Supreme Council and the Tabliq sect, the latter of which Mukulu belonged to.
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