Men and women weep as ailing Besigye is taken back to prison

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDPENDENT | Emotional scenes  have unfolded at the Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court as supporters of jailed opposition politician Retired Col Dr. Kizza Besigye broke down in tears upon seeing him appear frail, sickly, and miserable.

Besigye was on Friday  produced before the Court presided over by Senior Principal Grade One Magistrate Winnie Nankya Jatiko amidst tight security deployment.

However, Dr. Besigye’s appearance sparked widespread concern among his supporters, who were visibly shaken by his condition after the Magistrate Nankya adjourned the case to February 20th 2025 to decide on whether to release Besigye or not.

Both men and women including politicians like Muhammad Mutazindwa were  seen crying while others like Deputy Lord Mayor Doreen Nyanjura and Buikwe  MP Dr Lulume Bayiga looked dejected and frustrated with their palms holding on their cheeks.

Some of the crying women said that Besigye is likely to die from incarceration like former Kawempe North Member of Parliament for  Muhammad Ssegirinya who died last month after 16 months in jail prior to taking to his death bed at Lubaga Hospital.

Although the case was today coming up for hearing , when Besigye entered the Court, his  lawyers, led by Elias Lukwago and Ernest Kalibala, seized the opportunity to make an application seeking Dr. Besigye’s immediate release, citing several violations of his fundamental human rights.

The lawyers argued that  Besigye’s continued detention in Luzira prison without a valid remand warrant is a gross violation of his rights. They pointed out that the remand warrant issued by the General Court Martial had expired two weeks ago on February 3rd 2025 , and that Besigye had been granted bail in 2022 by the Buganda Road court.

Furthermore, the lawyers noted that the Prosecution has not informed Besigye of any pending charges against him, as the previous charges sanctioned by the defunct court martial have been halted by the Supreme Court. They argued that this lack of information is a clear violation of Besigye’s right to a fair and transparent trial.

Additionally, the lawyers raised concerns about Dr. Besigye’s access to medical care, citing that he has been denied access to his personal doctors despite being sick. They also noted that Dr. Besigye has been denied the opportunity to express his love to his wife, Winnie Byanyima, on Valentine’s Day, arguing is a violation of his right to kinship.

The lawyers further expressed fears that Dr. Besigye’s right to life in prison is threatened by remarks made by the Chief of Defense Forces, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who allegedly said  Besigye would only leave prison on Heroes’ Day to be hanged. Muhoozi recently posted on his social media platform that they have already identified a tree in Gulu for which Besigye will be hanged on. He also posted that the date of hanging him had been brought closer from the heroes day to March 9th 2025.

Now, Besigye’s deteriorating health coupled with Muhoozi Kainerugaba ‘s remarks makes them worried, according to Lukwago.

However, the Prosecution led by Allan Mucunguzi, countered that Besigye’s bail does not warrant a stay of proceedings, and that he is legally held in prison due to pending charges that began from the General Court Martial.

Mucunguzi further added that Besigye is legally held in prison because there is no where the Supreme Court judgement ordered  for the release of individuals who had pending charges in military courts as his lawyers are interpreting the decision.

According to Mucunguzi, the State has 14 days within which to implement the Supreme Court decision that barred trial of civilians in courts martial.

After listening to all submissions, Magistrate Nankya adjourned the case to February 20th 2025 and extended Besigye’s bail until then. Nankya said that the parties have made lengthy submissions and also furnished her with many documents (authorities) , each side supporting it’s arguments and asking her to rule in their favor. And as such she needed some time to eternalize the submissions and read the decisions referred to in submissions carefully.

She also ordered prison authorities to produce him in court on that date if he is still in their custody and in case  nothing has changed by that time.

Lukwago has told Journalists outside Court that his heart is personally heavy looking at Besigye in the way he appeared . He described the condition as devasting.

Besigye is jointly charged with Samuel Lubega Mukaaku for protesting against the skyrocketing prices for day to day commodities such as bread, cooking oil, sugar , among others in a protest held in Shauriyako Kampala Central held on June 14th  2022.

The Prosecution led by Allan Mucunguzi has so far presented five witnesses in the case who are all police officers  and was today  expected to present their last witness today . The witness who is from Masaka is also a police officer although on Monday, he didn’t turn up forcing Besigye’s lawyers to ask the Prosecutors to close their case.

On that day, Besigye was also not present in Court having declined to attend the session on the basis that he was sick.

As a result, the Court issued a production warrant directing Prisons to bring Besigye without fail today to ascertain the truth after the lawyers led by Erias Lukwago said they were not sure whether their client had written a letter that was brought to court showing that  he is unwell.

Although Besigye is out on bail on these charges of inciting violence, he remains in  prison on charges of treachery and illegal possession of ammunition and firearms stemming from the General Court Martial which has since been barred by the Supreme Court from trying Civilians and capital offenses e, save for disciplinary related offenses committed by the UPDF soldiers.

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