Besigye charged with disobeying lawful orders

Former Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate Kizza Besigye was on Wednesday charged with disobeying lawful police orders before the Kasangati Magistate’s Court in Wakiso district.
Mr Besigye appeared in court and the charges were read to him in connection to last week’s incident where he was intercepted by police at Mulago, arrested and detained at Nagalama Police Station in Mukono district before being released later in the day.

He denied the charges and court granted him a non cash bail of Shs2m after he presented Mr Tonny Kiyimba Ssempebwa LC 3 Chairman of Nangabo Sub-county and Ms Ingrid Turinawe Chief Mobilizer FDC as his sureties.
This comes two days after police said they had summoned Besigye for allegedly disobeying lawful orders.
Police spokesperson, Fred Enanga, on Monday told the media in Kampala that the summons are in regards to last Tuesday’s incident in which Dr Besigye was intercepted at the Mulago hospital roundabout on his way to the FDC party headquarters in Najjanankumbi to attend weekly protest prayers.
“We have summoned Dr Besigye to appear on April 13 [tomorrow] for statement recording. Dr Besigye has persistently demeaned police orders,” he said.
Dr Besigye was on April 4 arrested by police on his first attempt to move freely after spending 47 days under house arrest following the controversial February 18 presidential polls.

Mr Enanga, said criminal summons had been served to Dr Besigye, on April 8 but he has since refused to append signature.
“Whether he [Dr Besigye] signs or not, we shall wait for him on the said date to record a statement. And if he does appear, we shall take the summons to courts,” Mr Enanga added.
Following last week’s Tuesday incident police authorities were unclear on the causes of Dr Besigye’s arrest. However, deputy police spokesperson Polly Namaye in a statement issued earlier, had warned Dr Besigye “to desist from carrying out any procession because he had not notified police in time as required by the Public Order Management Act.”

Upon setting foot from his home in Kasangati, Dr Besigye, who was being chauffeured stood through his deep-tan Toyota Land Cruiser sunroof, attracting crowds that kept swelling as they drove to town en route to Najjanankub.
Mr Enanga said: “We have footages showing that Dr Besigye stood atop his vehicle and spoke to the crowd at Kalerwe without any police notice. That amounts to illegal assembly, which is contrary to public order management Act.”
He also said they were reviewing several footages recorded on the said day to gather more evidence.