Kwoyelo's Bail Application Hearing Set for Thursday

The International Crimes Division of the High Court will hear the bail application of former operations commander of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) Thomas Kwoyelo on Thursday in Gulu High Court.

Judges of the court reconfirmed the date to lawyers in the case during a conference held after the indictment of the accused in Gulu on Tuesday afternoon.

Last week, the bail hearing was postponed to November 15th due to absence of Borris Anyuru, one of Kwoyelo's lawyers on state brief.

Charles Dalton Opwonya, another lawyer on state brief asked court to adjourn the hearing over the absence of Gilbert Olanya, a key contact in the bail application. It is still unclear if MP Olanya will be presented as a surety of Kwoyelo.

Henry Komakech Kilama, the lawyer for victims in the trial says the court will sit on Wednesday to consider the applications of victims seeking admission in the case ahead of the bail hearing.

He says he will present the applications of 70 victims of the Lord's Resistance Army conflict to the judges for vetting and admission. 

According to Komakech, so far 30 victims have been admitted to participate in the trial. He says participation of the victims will be limited to the impact of the conflict on their safety and lives. 

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Charles Dalton Opwonya, one of Kwoyelo's Defense Lawyer on state brief also confirmed that the bail application will be heard on Thursday.

Opwonya says some of the sureties were travelling from Kampala for the bail hearing while others were in northern Uganda.

While the application for participation of victims will be heard in private sessions bringing together the parties in the case, the bail application will be heard in open court presided over by the panel of three judges of the high court Persis Jane Kiggundu, Duncan Gaswagga and Michael Elubu.

Thomas Kwoyelo, the former operations commander of the Lord's Resistance Army has pleaded not guilty to 93 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity brought against him by the state. 

He was formally charged under the penal code act and the international customary law of the domesticated Geneva Convention on Monday and Tuesday.

The counts were divided into fifteen major parts covering various offences such as pillaging, cruel treatment, torture and inhumane acts against the dignity of a person. His lawyer Charles Dalton Opwonya told the press after conferencing with judges that his client's bail application will now be heard on Thursday.

The state is being represented in the case by George William Byansi, an assistant director of Public Prosecutions assisted by two principal state attorneys Charles Richard Kamuuli and Florence Akello.