"You doesn't have to call me Johnson!"

This is Johnson Aziga. Mr. Aziga was born in Uganda. At some point he was accepted as an immigrant to Canada, and found a job with the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney-General. What Mr. Aziga did not disclose on his immigration application, or at any other time, is the fact that he is HIV-positive.

This was unfortunate since, true to his name, Johnson was very inclined to indulge in what Private Eye calls "Ugandan affairs". He had a wife, three kids, and a succession of girlfriends. He indulged in unsafe sex with no fewer than 11 women. Seven of them later tested positive for HIV, and two died of complications of AIDS, in December 2003 and May 2004.

Fast forward to April 2009, when Mr. Aziga, was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, 10 counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of attempted aggravated sexual assault. He thus became the first person ever to be tried and convicted of first-degree murder by virtue [eh? Ed.] of knowingly spreading the HIV virus.

At the trial, his former girlfriends testified that Johnson lied about his HIV status and continued having unprotected sex until the morning of his arrest in 2003.

There is no death penalty in Canada. Being in his mid-50s, Mr. Aziga would normally be eligible for parole sometime after he celebrates his 70th birthday, if he lives so long. At that point he might be deported to his native Africa. But the Crown doesn't want to chance that.

No. The Crown is now seeking to have Mr. Aziga declared a dangerous offender, which would mean that he would remain a guest of Her Majesty (at the expense of Her Majesty's taxpayers) indefinitely. That means forever.

Mr. Aziga is resisting the Crown's application. Perhaps he would like to have at least a hope of getting out of prison before his libido is reduced to nothingness. Just because there's snow on the roof doesn't mean there's no fire in the furnace.

Now the court is hearing, for the first time, an explanation for Johnson's behaviour, and in particular his failure to tell any of his 11 victims of his life-threatening disease. ["condition" surely! Don't be politically incorrect! Ed.]
Mr. Aziga's excuse ["explanation", surely. Ed.] is... wait for it... that he has an undescended testicle. He was born that way, one hung low and one not. And that, according to a psychiatrist, is the cause of all his, errr, difficulties.

He was embarrassed, you see. Mr. Aziga told the shrink that because of his abnormality, he always hid sexual information about himself. He didn't tell his wife or sex partners or anyone. And he didn't disclose his HIV status because he was afraid he would be rejected. Imagine that.

A judge will rule on the Crown's application in due course. But don't think keeping the murderer behind bars is a sure thing. Mr. Aziga is not without his supporters, including Richard Elliott, deputy director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network. Dick described as "not very helpful" the decision to try Mr. Aziga at all!

He said such charges might "lead to a dominant impression out there of people living with HIV as potential criminals". Ridiculous! We know that not everyone suffering from HIV/AIDS is a potential criminal. Just Johnson.