Forced to confess
I was a university student in my final year of studies when I took part in a public peaceful protest against unemployment of new graduates. The protest was peaceful but quickly turned violent after a group of thugs disrupted the entire mission of our march. In the chaos, several students were arrested and I was among them. We informed the police that we had nothing to do with the violence. Nonetheless, the police tortured us into confessing. They took our confessional statements and brought us to Court, where we were quickly found guilty and convicted based on forced confessions. I have served my sentence but during my time in prison, I learned that there were irregularities in the admitted evidence used to convict us. What does the law say about forced confessions? Please guide me.
VH, Dodoma
We are sorry to hear about your peril. Unfortunately, we cannot comment on the irregularities of the admitted evidence since we do not have all the facts of the case. Regardless, we will provide general comments on the disputed confessional statements. Matters concerning evidence in a trial are governed by the Evidence Act, Cap 6 R.E 2022] (the Evidence Act). According to section 27 of the Evidence Act, a confession voluntarily made to a police officer by a person accused of an offence may be proved as against that person. The onus (duty) of proving that any confession made by an accused person was voluntarily made by him lies on the prosecution. Further, a confession will be held to be involuntary if the Court believes that it was induced by any threat, promise or other prejudice held out by the police officer to whom it was made or by any member of the Police Force or by any other person in authority.
Courts have held in numerous cases that a confession to an offence made to a police officer, is admissible evidence. However, the claims that an accused person has made a confession is not treated casually by Courts. The prosecution should always prove that there was a confession made and the same was made freely and voluntarily obtained. If what you are saying is true, then you had every right to appeal against the conviction and sentence but you cannot do so now because you have served your sentence. Your lawyer can guide you further.