TWO Ugandan diplomats will soon find out how long they will be locked up in a jail in the UK after court found them guilty of fraud and tax evasion relating to duty-free goods. Diplomats are exempt from paying duties and taxes on cars, food and electrical appliances that they bring into the country, but they are not allowed to abuse the privilege.
According to the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Okello Oryem, the Government received a guilty verdict for the two unnamed diplomats whose conduct has caused embarrassment. “The trial of the two has been concluded and they will soon be sentenced. I have been informed that crimes of that nature carry a jail term ranging from seven to 14 years,” Oryem told lawmakers on the foreign affairs committee on Wednesday.
However, MPs heard that upon smelling a rat, one of the diplomats, only identified as Ndawula, escaped the clutches of the UK law enforcement officers and is suspected to be on the run. “We have already alerted Interpol and hopefully he will be extradited to the UK to face justice,” Oryem said. According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations (1961), diplomats enjoy immunity from legal prosecution in host countries unless their home countries choose to waive it. Read more
No comments:
Post a Comment