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US couple face death penalty in Uganda for child trafficking

One American a couple are facing the death penalty in Uganda for “repeated torture” and ultimately trafficking in one of their three local adopted children from a Christian ministry.

Nicholas Spencer and wife Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencerboth 32 years old, both pleaded not guilty last week after being arrested on December 9 in the capital Kampala, according to the local newspaper. Daily monitoring.

Their neighbors are said to have reported the alleged torture to the authorities.

The American couple moved to the East African country in 2017 where they adopted three children

The couple moved to the East African country in 2017 to do humanitarian work and adopted three children a year later from Welcome set in the city of Jinja.

Among the three children is a 10-year-old boy who is HIV positive and attends a special needs school, according to police and local media reports.

Ugandan authorities said the Spencers “continuously tortured” the child starting in 2020, “which caught the attention of neighbours”, some of whom even videotaped the incident, the newspaper said. newspaper reports.

Authorities describe horrendous conditions foster parents impose on children with special needs

Authorities said the couple forced the boy to be barefoot and “bare throughout the day” and “occasionally made him squat in an awkward position, head down on the floor and arms outstretched”. according to Monitor.

According to police, the child was also forced to sleep on a wooden platform without a bed or mattress, and was given only cold meals.

The Daily Monitor quoted a caregiver who told police that the child had been criticized by his adoptive parents, who accused him of being mentally unstable, hyperactive and stubborn.

“I wanted to leave my job, but I knew if I left without doing anything about it, the torture would continue,” the carer said.

Couple pleads not guilty to torture and additional child trafficking charges that resulted in death penalty

They pleaded not guilty to initial charges of severe torture, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

On Tuesday, the couple were also charged with more serious child trafficking – a crime that could lead to the death penalty in Uganda, according to the state prosecutor.

The arrest report claims the Spencers recruited, transported and held the child through “abuse of a vulnerable position for the purposes of exploitation,” according to the source.

They appeared at the magistrate’s court on Tuesday, but were unable to make a plea on the new charges as only the Supreme Court could hear and were transferred to the Luzia Prison – a facility maximum security.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court trial date is yet to be scheduled for Thursday.

The couple’s lawyer claims police have no evidence, calling the case a “fishing expedition”

The couple’s attorney attempted to defend the couple, claiming that authorities had no evidence and describing the incident as a “fishing expedition,” as the Monitor reports.

“Last time we were in court, the state said the investigations were complete but today they added a new allegation and said the investigations are ongoing,” she told Agence France- Presse (AFP).

“It makes no sense.”

Their lawyers asked the court to release the Spencers, citing their unspecified health problems that could not be adequately treated in prison.

Bail application denied as prosecutors call couple a flight risk, US Embassy surveillance situation

However, their bail application was ultimately denied because prosecutors claimed there were no incurable illnesses in Uganda’s prison system.

Meanwhile, the Spencers were also denied bail due to the risk of absconding, prosecutors said, calling “the possibility of them escaping bail…really, very high,” according to the source.

Prosecutor Joan Keko said: “They have no community or family ties in Uganda, and the offense they are charged with is now of such a serious nature that it carries a penalty of life imprisonment, hence the possibility that they bail is very, very high.” court.





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