| UGANDA 2/12/2004 20:11 | |
| ARCHBISHOP OF GULU: FALSEHOOD AGAINST VICAR OF KITGUM RECOGNISED | |
| Church/Religious Affairs, Brief | |
|
�I thank God for having guided the State to see the falsehood directed at the priest and declared him an innocent person as he has always been,� Monsignor John Baptist Odama, Archbishop of Gulu, has said in response to the acquittal of Father Matthew Ojara, Episcopal vicar of Kitgum (north Uganda) for lack of evidence. Father Ojara was arrested at the start of November on suspicion of collusion with the rebels of the self-proclaimed LRA (Lord�s Resistance Army). �His period of detention (4 days in police custody) was against the provision of article 23 (4) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda that prohibits the detention of a suspect beyond 48 hours from the time of his or her arrest before the person in produced into the court,� writes the archbishop in a statement sent to MISNA. Monsignor Ojara was arrested on 1 November in a joint army and police operation in his home next to his parish chu rch of Christ the king in Kitgum before being released on police bond four days later. �On Thursday 25th November, Monsignor Matthew Ojara, who had been reporting regularly to the Police under the laws of his Police Bond, was declared innocent and free after the Police Bond was withdrawn due to lack of evidence,� explained the prelate. The Ugandan authorities accused the Episcopal vicar of presumed contact with the armed group responsible for tormenting the civilian population in the northern districts for 18 years. Among other things, the priest was reportedly suspected of holding a telephone conversation with a rebel in which he allegedly advised the LRA against starting peace talks with the authorities � an eventuality that has been disclaimed not only by the acquittal but also by the recent news of the start of negotiations between government and LRA representatives. [LC] | |
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