The three Kenyans and two Ugandans, who were acquitted last week of terrorism and other related charges but immediately rearrested and charged with the same crimes, have said they will sue Uganda and Kenya for unlawful arrest, malicious prosecution and erroneous profiling as terrorists.

Caleb Alaka, their lawyer, said that when they were acquitted they had given instructions to look into the possibility of filing a suit.

“We shall look into this again because these are trumped up charges that we will fight,” he said.

Omar Awadh Omar, Suleiman Mbuthia, Muhammad Hamid Muhammad, Dr Ismael Kalule and Abubaker Battemetyo were cleared on May 26, over their alleged involvement in planning and detonating bombs at two locations in Kampala in July 2010, that killed 76 people and injured several others.

But Justice Alfonse Owiny Dollo convicted the Luyima brothers — Issa Luyima, Hassan Haruna Luyima, and Muzafalu Luyima, Hussein Hassan Agade, Idris Magondu, Muhammad Ali Muhammad, Habib Njoroge Suleiman, and Hijjar Nyamandondo.

Hardly had the five emerged into sunlight than police immediately arrested them again. At first they claimed it was for their own safety. Later, they said for the Kenyans, Kampala needed to make arrangements to formally hand them over to Kenyan authorities.

READ: Five men cleared of Kampala bombing charged with new offences

But information available to The EastAfrican indicates that the decision to hold onto them regardless of how the judgment turned out was reportedly reached a while back. Arresting them immediately they were let free was intended to prevent them from slipping away.

“We had to hold onto them as our teams worked through the paperwork for the fresh information we had about them,” said a police officer.

On Wednesday, June 1, the quintet appeared before Jinja chief magistrate John Francis Kaggwa and was charged with two counts of terrorism and conspiracy to commit terrorism committed with others still at large in and around Jinja between February 2012 and March 2016.

According to police, the quintet “while at Luzira Upper Prison, created documents and materials connected with preparations to facilitate, assist or engage co-conspirators to undertake terrorist acts.”