Hello

Your subscription is almost coming to an end. Don’t miss out on the great content on Nation.Africa

Ready to continue your informative journey with us?

Hello

Your premium access has ended, but the best of Nation.Africa is still within reach. Renew now to unlock exclusive stories and in-depth features.

Reclaim your full access. Click below to renew.

Byanyima asks court to order prisons to release husband Besigye

Opposition figure Dr Kizza Besigye (R) and his co-accused Obeid Lutale appear in the Makindye General Court Martial dock in Kampala on January 7, 2024. PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA 

What you need to know:

  • She says the continued illegal detention of her husband is an infringement upon his rights to personal liberty, among other rights, under the 1995 Constitution.
  • Following the verdict of the highest court in the land, lawyers of Dr Besigye and Hajj Lutale have for the past three days, been pacing and combing several government offices in a bid to have the orders of the court implemented by having their clients released from jail.

The High Court in Kampala has been petitioned to compel the prison authorities to bring the bodies of Dr Kizza Besigye and his aide Hajj Obeid Lutale whether “alive or dead”.

Ms Winnie Byanyima, the wife to the veteran opposition politician, in her affidavit before the court, contends that despite the Supreme Court stopping the prosecution of civilians before the military and ordering the transfer of their files to civilian courts, the prison officials to date, continue to hold her husband, a four-time presidential contender, illegally.
“The above Supreme Court decision and orders notwithstanding, the respondents (Attorney General and the Prisons) and their agents have continued to illegally detain the applicants (Dr Besigye and Hajj Lutale) at Luzira Maximum Prison without any lawful excuse nor any valid remand warrant,” Ms Byanyima states in her affidavit now before the court.

She adds: “A writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum be issued ordering/ requiring the Respondents, their servants, agents, and/ or officers acting under their orders to produce Dr. Kizza Besigye and Hajj Obeid Lutale before this Honourable court for appropriate orders.”

Ms Byanyima, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, further states that the continued illegal detention of her husband is an infringement upon his rights to personal liberty, among other rights, under the 1995 Constitution.
By press time, it was unclear when the court would sit and hear this application.
Last Friday, the Supreme Court ruled, in a majority judgment of 6:1, that it was unconstitutional for civilians to be tried in military courts.

Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo who wrote the majority decision, held that there was no fairness and impartiality in the military courts, and yet the Constitution which is the supreme law of the land, demands for a speedy and fair trial before competent courts.
“All charges, or ongoing criminal trials, or pending trials, before the courts-martial involving civilians, must immediately cease and be transferred to the ordinary courts of law with competent jurisdiction,” Chief Justice Dollo ruled in the majority judgment.

Ms Winnie Byanyima

Adding: “The provisions of the UPDF Act constituting and providing for the trial procedure of the GCM, the Division Court Martial, and the Court Martial Appeal Court, do not contain any or sufficient constitutional guarantees and safeguards for them to exercise their judicial functions with independence and impartiality, which is a prerequisite for fair hearing provided for under Arts. 21, 28(1), 44(c), and 128(1) of the Constitution.

Following the verdict of the highest court in the land, lawyers of Dr Besigye and Hajj Lutale have for the past three days, been pacing and combing several government offices in a bid to have the orders of the court implemented by having their clients released from jail.
Dr Besigye and Hajj Lutale have been in jail since November last year.

However, Besigye’s legal team hasn’t been successful after the prison officials said they can’t release their clients without a release letter from the office of the Attorney General who is the chief government legal adviser.
Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka on the hand while appearing before Parliament on Tuesday, said he had written to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Jane Frances Abode, asking for the way forward on how to cause the onward transmission of the files from the military courts to the civil courts.

By press time, the ping-pong among the government offices in charge of dispensing justice was still ongoing.
The duo was arrested in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, brought back to Uganda by road, and charged with security-related offences, being in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
The state later amended the charge sheet to include a serving military officer and a fresh charge of treachery, which Dr Besigye and co-accused have since refused to plea to.
[email protected]