Above the Law
Investigators in the U.K. say Lydia Mugambe, 49, lured a young woman from Uganda to travel to the U.K. for a job. When the woman arrived, Mugambe confiscated her passport and visa, and forced her to work as her maid and nanny with no pay. Mugambe, who is also from Uganda, was arrested under the Modern Slavery Act. Mugambe was a judge at the High Court of Uganda between 2013 and 2020, and was well known for a “landmark” ruling she made in 2017 upholding the “rights of poor, vulnerable and marginalized women.” She was in the U.K. as a doctoral researcher in law at the University of Oxford. In May 2023, she was appointed as a Criminal Tribunal Judge for the U.N. — and she claimed diplomatic immunity to escape her criminal charges. That didn’t work: the Office of the United Nations Secretary General waived “any immunity Mugambe may have enjoyed.” She was convicted on all charges. (RC/BBC) ...Too bad for her that the U.K. can require unpaid labor by prison inmates.Story Update: During sentencing, the judge noted Mugambe “showed absolutely no remorse,” but rather worked to “forcibly blame” her victim. She was sentenced to 72 months in prison. Hard labor wasn’t mentioned in the report.
Original Publication Date: 23 March 2025
This story is in True’s book collections, in Volume 31.
This story is in True’s book collections, in Volume 31.
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