Don’t interfere in Besigye trial, Katureebe tells government

Chief Justice Bart Katureebe. PHOTO BY ERIC DOMINIC BUKENYA

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Assurance. Chief Justice assures Dr Besigye that he has made it clear to the Executive that the Judiciary will be guided by the law in handling his concerns.

Kampala. Chief Justice Bart Katureebe has assured jailed Opposition leader, Dr Kizza Besigye, that his treason case will be conducted before a properly constituted court and the proceedings will be open.
The assurance is contained in a letter dated June 23. The Chief Justice wrote in reply to the Uganda Law Society’s (ULS) demands for the steps that he would take in addressing Dr Besigye’s fears.

Chief Justice Katureebe also in his letter assured Dr Besigye that he has made it clear to the Executive that the Judiciary will only be guided by the law in handling any matters before it.
Dr Besigye on June 1, wrote to the Chief Justice complaining of injustice that the courts had allegedly exhibited against him in as far as his treason trial is concerned.
“On June 17, I responded to Dr Besigye’s letter. I assured him that the Judiciary would ensure that his trial takes place in an open court established by law and would be in accordance with the law and established procedures,” Chief Justice Katureebe states in his letter to ULS.

“On the same day (June 17), I wrote to the Deputy Chief Justice (Steven Kavuma), enclosing a copy of Dr Besigye’s compliant. My emphasis to all has been that courts must adjudicate on these matters in full compliance with the law and known established procedures so that justice is not only done but seen to be done and the right to a fair trial is non-derogable.”
“At the outset, I must reinstate my deeply held view that the Constitution of Uganda must be respected by all for the rule of law to prevail. Accordingly, every person arrested in connection with any alleged commission of any offence, must be treated in accordance with Constitution and established procedures.

“I had already raised Dr Besigye’s concerns to the concerned members of the Executive to whom I have made clear that the Judiciary will only be guided by law in handling any case before it,” Justice Katureebe stated.
He also revealed how he strongly rejected the request made to him by the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to have one of Dr Besigye’s files transferred from Kasangati court to the Law Development Centre court.
The case file in question is that in which Dr Besigye is facing trial before Kasangati Magistrate’s Court on charges of disobeying lawful police orders to take a different route as he headed to the FDC party headquarters for prayers earlier this year.

The police accuse him of having disobeyed their orders when he was ordered to take Yusuf Lule route but he insisted on taking the Wandegeya route.
“On 8th June, I received a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions, seeking that I invoke my powers under section 7 of the Magistrate’s Court Act to transfer criminal case No. 332/2016, Uganda Vs Dr Kizza Besigye from LDC court where it should have been lodged to Kasangati court where apparently it was being prosecuted. I declined to grant that request because I was not satisfied that the interests of justice envisaged in that section would be realised,” Chief Justice Katureebe said.
“My advice was that an accused person must first and foremost be produced before court with jurisdiction,” he added.

Dr Besigye, who was the runner up in the February 18 presidential elections, is on remand at Luzira prison on separate charges of treason.
Prosecution claims Dr Besigye and others at large between February 20 and May 11 this year in diverse places in Uganda formed an intention to compel by force or constrain the government of Uganda as by law established to change its measures or counsels as to the lawfully established methods of acceding to the office of president.