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In a statement, the Uganda Law Society has called for the immediate release of the bodyguard, saying his ordeal was not an isolated case but "part of a systematic campaign to silence dissent and crush the aspirations of people yearning for freedom".

Boniface Mwabukusi, president of the Tanganyika Law Society, who visited the priest in hospital, said it had been "a brutal attack with the intent to take his life".

The Law Society of England and Wales also raised concerns that the target for appeal decisions would be "unworkable" in practice as the justice system is already struggling to cope with current demand.

"The video is very clear," says Faith Odhiambo, president of the Law Society of Kenya.

Max Winthrop, a member of the Law Society's Employment Law Committee, said: "I'd normally expect the spinal point on the higher grading to be maintained when a lower graded post was offered."