The Uganda Human Rights Commission (UHRC) has spent the better part of today (Wednesday Nov 20th) at the Military Court Martial following allegations that former Presidential Candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye had earlier on been abducted from Kenya and his whereabouts were unknown.
The news of Besigye’s alleged unknown location was broken by his wife Winnie Byanyima today at 12:00am prompting the Chairperson Hon. Mariam Wangadya to instruct the Directorates of; Monitoring and Inspection (DMI) and Regional Services (DRS) to locate his whereabouts as she also made contacts elsewhere.
At around 9:40am it was ascertained that Dr. Besigye was to be produced before the General Court Martial in Makindye Division – Kampala. A team led by two directors; Ms. Ruth Ssekindi of DMI and Sarah Nakhumitsa (DRS), three members of staff and interns to set off for the Court Martial.
After a few identification protocols, the UHRC team was allowed into the Court Martial compound where a number of Journalists and supporters of Dr. Besigye were gathered. After a wait of about an hour, a convoy of three military vehicles pulled in with a number of military officers in company. Dr. Besigye together with his co-accused Hajji Lutale Kamulegeya were ushered into the court building.
There was some bit of tension when the military officers first asked Dr. Besigye’s supporters and the media to stay outside but this was for a few minutes and everyone was let in.
A panel of seven soldiers led by the Court Chairman Brigadier Freeman Mugabe first inquired whether Dr. Besigye had any objections to raise and he said he objects to being charged before the court because he is not a soldier.
“I am also not legally represented because I have not had a chance to talk to and instruct my lawyers to represent me,” he said.
This prompted the court to stand over the session for 15 minutes and when it resumed, the court ruled that the charges the two were facing bring them under the jurisdiction of the Court Martial.
The two were then formally charged with four counts, including unlawful possession of fire arms and live ammunition at Riverside Apartments in Nairobi Kenya and holding meetings in Greece and Switzerland with the alleged intent to undermine the security of the Ugandan army. The chairman then proceeded and read to all of them the charges and asked one at a time whether they admit to committing the alleged offences as stated. They all pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The Prosecutor asked the Court Martial to remand the two in separate prisons; that is, Dr. Besigye at Luzira Prison and Hajji Lutale at Kitalya Prison. However their lawyer, also City Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago who admitted having not been formally instructed said the accused need to be together since they are charged jointly so they need to jointly prepare their defense.
He also raised other objections like the two having been brought into the country without any extradition proceedings or deportation orders.
“As it stands now, the two accused persons are still in Kenya because they have not gone through immigration, like they did while going. So as they stand there in the Dock, they are in Kenya. The law knows them now to be still in Kenya and this tribunal is not vested with powers to try people who are currently in Kenya,” he said.
He also objected the charge sheet for not being clear on whether being in possession of the pistols was in breach of the UPDF ACT or the Kenya Defense Forces Act where they were arrested from.
“It is our prayer that this tribunal strikes out this charge sheet and release the accused persons,” Lukwago said
After the proceedings, Director Ssekindi was able to interact with the accused in the court’s holding cells. Following the session, both Dr. Besigye and Hajji Kamulegeya were remanded to Luzira Prison.
The Commission was fulfilling its mandate under article 52 of the Constitution of Republic of Uganda of monitoring places of detention and ascertaining the conditions of detainees.
