President Museveni Military Court based in Makindye-Kampala has added a new twist to the case involving opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye and his aide Obeid Lutale Kamulegeya.
When Besigye’s lawyers led by Martha Karua came to the General Court Martial on Monday, January 13, 2025, army prosecutors led by Colonel Raphael Mugisha requested the controversial military tribunal to have the charge sheet for Besigye and Lutale amended.
Mugisha and his team preferred a new charge of treachery against Besigye and Lutale. Since they were abducted in a manner that projected Kenya as the region’s hotbed of abductions, they had been facing charges of undermining national security and illegal possession of fire arms.
Now, their charge sheet includes treachery now. Col Mugisha also sought to include Captain Denis Ola, a serving officer attached to the Armoured Brigade, as a co-accused to Besigye.
Prosecution told the tribunal that during the course of investigations, some facts emerged to the effect that there is a serving UPDF officer who is connected to the offence.
“We intend to have the charge sheet amended by the addition of that officer. We also intend to amend the charge sheet by adding there another count of treachery. So, those are the two amendments we are seeking to amend,” the prosecution announced.
Karua and the defense team objected to the amendment of the charge sheet to include treachery. Part of their strategy was to argue how the Museveni military court lacks the jurisdiction to try civilians.
Besigye is a retired colonel. He used to serve as Museveni’s personal physician in the bush war that led the National Resistance Army to power in 1986.
The Supreme Court is taking its time on deciding on an appeal on a lower court’s ruling barring the trial of civilians in military courts or tribunals.
“We feel that amending to add a person who is serving in the military is meant to preempt the ruling on jurisdiction, because in our view, the court has no jurisdiction on [Besigye and Lutale],” said Karua.
She also invoked Regulation 60 (1) of the Uganda People’s Defense Forces Act (UPDF Act) on the duties of the Court Martial chairperson to decry the persecution of lawyers representing Besigye and Lutale.
“In any court of law, advocates are granted access to the court to be able to do their duty to represent the accused persons,” Karua submitted.
“Because of what transpired here last time, when Eron Kiiza was denied access [and] it resulted in him being jailed, we are most humbly seeking your assurances that as advocates; we are not going to endure any intimidation or obstruction as we come into court to do our duties.”
She went on to reveal that some of Besigye’s lawyers had decided not to come to the military tribunal because they felt intimidated by the highhandedness of the soldiers whose behaviour seemed to have the backing of the tribunal.
“I must state that what transpired has caused a lot of shock. If you can see, we are less than we normally are,” said Karua.
“[The mistreatment of Kiiza] has caused fear and intimidation among the ranks of advocates, and we thought that we needed to bring to your attention that this court needs to show and to demonstrate balance, not just the welfare of the military officers before it, but the welfare of everybody in its presence. So, we are seeking assurances that we will be able to represent our clients without intimidation.”
Last week, the Museveni military arrested fearless Besigye lawyer Eron Kiiza, convicted him and sentenced him to nine months in prison for contempt of court. In earlier sittings, Kiiza had ‘shaken tables’ in the Museveni military court. See Details Here and There.
Meanwhile, Besigye lawyer Eron Kiiza’s health condition remains an issue of concern, with one of those who have visited him in prison reporting his blood smelling breath, body swellings, severe pain. (See Details Here).
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