WAKISO, Uganda (AP) — A judge on Thursday sentenced a Ugandan man to death after rejecting his insanity plea in the killings of four children in a nursery school earlier this month.
A crowd watching proceedings in a tent erupted in cheers after the judge ruled that Christopher Okello should “suffer death” for the April 2 killings that devastated the East African nation.
The suspect “failed to adduce any evidence to support this claim that he was not mentally okay” when he committed the crimes, the judge said.
The 38-year-old man was accused of killing the children in a machete attack inside a nursery school in a suburb of the Ugandan capital of Kampala.
Witnesses said the attacker targeted the nursery school, known as Gaba Early Childhood Development Program, by disguising himself as a parent.
He is said to have briefly talked to administrators there before locking the gate and attacking the children.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ordered the courts to fast-track the criminal trial in a justice mechanism known as “mobile courts,” open-air rather than courtroom sessions that allowed hundreds of bereaved locals and others to witness the trial as it unfolded.
Still, there were concerns about the defendant’s mental health. He appeared nervous and, at times, laughed without provocation. The Uganda Law Society described the trial as “a judicial lynching rally.”
The judiciary defended the decision to conduct a quick and very public trial, saying it highlighted its “commitment to taking justice closer to the people through innovative approaches.”
The death penalty is rarely carried out in this East African country. Many people condemned to death have spent years behind bars.
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