Private Yasin Jerwa in court on Friday.
KAMPALA – Chief Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu of the Standard and Utilities Court has released Michael Kalulye Stanley, who was remanded for failing to produce Private Jerwa Yasin, whom he stood as surety for. Private Yasin had been granted a one million shilling cash bail in November 2023 after presenting sureties that the court considered substantial. However, he jumped bail, and his counsel later informed the court that they had lost contact with him.
As a result, Michael Kalulye Stanley, one of Yasin’s sureties, was remanded to Luzira Prison for neglecting his duty to ensure the accused person’s appearance in court. After spending several days on remand, Yasin was produced in court by Military Police officers on Friday.
The state prosecutor told the court that Yasin had failed to appear for the hearing as required, and asked the court to cancel his bail, discharge the witnesses who stood for him, and order the release of the surety on remand. The court granted the request, relieving the sureties and ordering the forfeiture of the one million shillings deposited in court as security.
Private Yasin then asked the court to allow him to make a fresh plea, and he pleaded guilty to four counts of being in possession of protected specimens (pangolin and their scales). The court heard that on October 27, 2023, at Lower Kololo in Kampala district, Private Jerwa Yasin, a 25-year-old UPDF officer residing in Kololo, was found in possession of a white-bellied pangolin, ground pangolin, and pangolin scales without a Wildlife use right.
The prosecution requested more time to prepare the brief facts to be presented in court before sentencing, and the trial Magistrate, Gladys Kamasanyu, adjourned the matter to June 12, 2023, for sentencing.
