A Ugandan military court resumed the trial of abducted veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye on Tuesday, with one of his defence lawyers taken into custody and detained for nine months.
Besigye was snatched last year from neighbouring Kenya while in Nairobi to attend a book launch by Kenyan opposition politician and lawyer Martha Karua, according to his spouse and rights groups.
The 68-year-old retired army colonel has been accused of possessing weapons and other offences in a military court.
He appeared in court alongside his co-accused Obeid Lutale and accompanied by his lead lawyer, Karua, following Uganda’s decision to grant her a temporary practising licence.
It had denied her permission to practise in the country in December, provoking criticism from rights groups.
Lawyer Erias Lukwago, among those defending Besigye, told AFP that “military personnel” attempted to prevent the opposition figure’s lawyers from entering court.
He said another lawyer, Eron Kiiza, was then detained by officers and claimed he had been “sent to prison for nine months for what the military court claim is misconduct without formal charges”.
“A lawyer appearing in court to represent his clients, being summarily sent to prison without formal charges and hearing is a travesty of justice”, Lukwago said.
He condemned the “mistreatment” of those in the military court, where earlier — ahead of the arrest — supporters and lawyers scuffled with security forces.
Besigye was once President Yoweri Museveni’s trusted personal physician, but has been repeatedly targeted by the authorities since falling out with the president in the late 1990s and running unsuccessfully against him in four elections.
Uganda has cracked down on the opposition in recent months.
The trial also comes as Museveni announced an election roadmap for the polls expected in early 2026, setting out in a statement that voter registration would begin on Tuesday.
AFP
