The International Crimes Division of the High Court in Kampala has confirmed terrorism charges against Jamal Kiyemba, a former Guantanamo Bay detainee .
Kiyemba, also known as Tonny Kiyemba, 44 the Imam for Masjid Taqwa Zzana, Kirimanyaga zone, Makindye Ssabagabo in Wakiso district was arrested last year and arraigned before the Chief Magistrates Court and charged with belonging to a terrorist organization contrary to section 11(1) (a) and (b) of the Anti-Terrorism Act 2002.
"Jamal Kiyemba and others still at large between 2021 and January 2022 in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda belonged or professed to belong to Allied Democratic Forces(ADF) a terrorist organization," the court read the charges.
He was later committed to the International Crimes Division for trial.
The pretrial
At the International Crimes Division, a pretrial conducted by Lady Justice Alice Komuhangi Khaukha listened to the evidence presented by the state against Kiyemba.
It is also alleged that Kiyemba solicited or invited support for ADF on January 29th, 2022, at the Old Taxi Park in Kampala City.
The prosecution led by Jacquelyn Okui alleges that between 2021 and January 2022, while in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kiyemba belonged or professed to belong to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a designated terror organization, by recruiting persons for it, along with others still at large.
It is also alleged that Kiyemba solicited or invited support for ADF on January 29, 2022, at the Old Taxi Park in Kampala.
In the evidence produced to court during the pretrial session, prosecution told court that Kiyemba has been radical since 1999 and that he has openly expressed his admiration, belief, and support for terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda, Alshabaab, and ADF.
The evidence says in 2006, he got in touch with Jamil Mukulu and joined his ADF organization, became an active member of the group and also got involved in recruiting and training members of the terrorist organization.
According to evidence produced before court, in January, 2022, Kiyemba was at Ben Kiwanuka Street in Kampala heading to Bugiri District when he shouted "Long live ADF" and advocated for people to support ADF lest blood continues to shed in Kampala.
It is also alleged that he then went to the Old Taxi Park, where he boarded a taxi heading to Jinja-Iganga-Kamuli and was arrested from there and that while under arrest, he said he was a member, supporter, and recruiter of ADF, and that his most recent recruitment was his son Jamil Abdallah Buyondo.
The International Crimes Division on Tuesday said this was evidence enough to sustain the three charges against the former Guantanamo Bay detainee.
"I find that the accused knew what he was doing when he made or chanted the words 'Long live ADF' both in English and in Luganda," the pretrial judge, Lady Justice Alice Komuhangi Khaukha said in her ruling.
According to the lady judge, it was foolhardy for Kiyemba's lawyer, Geofrrey Turyamusiima to claim that his client could have been in an improper mind when he uttered the above statements.
The judge insisted that the ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee knew very well what he was doing.
" I find that he was very deliberate if not calculative to make sure he uttered his support for ADF near a UPDF soldier. The evidence tendered is sufficient enough to prove the ingredients of the case and he doesn't deny them in his both the charge and caution statements he recorded with police," she said.
According to the lady judge, upon arrest, Kiyemba admitted that he had told police he was an ADF member and that he had decided to enter negotiations with government to end bloodshed.
"This statement is corroborated by the statement of Mugamba Anthony who heard the accused chant, utter or talk about the ADF. Also, the call matrices and the technical analytical reports of the subscriber numbers indicates that the accused was communicating with a one Musa Yousa among others who is an ADF recruiter in Busia."
Consequently, after confirming the charges, the pretrial judge forwarded the file to the panel of three judges who will handle the trial.
Kiyemba was remanded to Luzira as he awaits fixing of a date for hearing of the case.
About Kiyemba
Born Anthony Kiyemba in Uganda 43 year ago, he converted to Islam aged 20 and changed his name to Jamal Abdullah.
When his family moved to Britain following the death of his father in 1993, Kiyemba refused to pally for British citizenship.
According to US military files, he was later in 2002 arrested near Peshawar in Pakistan after allegedly trying to enter Afghanistan in the company of 'a probable al-Qaeda operative, a suspected al-Qaeda operative and a low-level jihadist'.
It is said that Kiyemba had lived in the UK for eight years before travelling to Pakistan.
The former pharmacy student at a university in Leicester was held at Guantanamo Bayo for four years until he was released in 2006 but since he was not a British citizen, he was not allowed back to the UK.
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Consequently he was deported to Uganda by the US.
In 2015 he was arrested in connection with the shooting of prosecutor Joan Kagezi who was leading prosecutions in the case of the men accused of masterminding the July 2010 Lugogo twin bombings.
Uganda police then said Kiyemba had been arrested with the help of US officials but there was no conclusive evidence to link him to the shooting.
ADF links
Kiyemba is accused of having links with ADF which was in 2021 blamed for the double bomb blasts in Kampala at the Central Police Station and along Parliamentary Avenue killing more than six people including police officers.
The ADF was a few years ago declared as a terrorist group in 2014 swore allegiance to the Islamic State, a radical Sunni military group.
According to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, the ADF has used the name Madina at Tauheed Wau Mujahedeen (City of Monotheism and Holy Warriors--MTM) to emphasize its links to the Islamic State.
In 2019, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for an ADF attack and first referenced a "Central Africa Province.
