Military turn up the sirens to silence Dr Besigye team

Despite pleas by Dr Besigye’s lawyers to the two operators of the truck to turn down the volume of the sirens, the officers were unmoved.

Mr Lukwago proposed that they shift the media briefing venue to a quieter place but some voices opposed it.

It was reported that one of the military officers instead asked those operating the sirens to increase the volume.

The briefing went on but with those making the briefing labouring to shout on top of their voices for the journalists to hear them out.

“We are united more than ever before to deal with the madness. You can see, this is a real kangaroo court. These are not proceedings of a competent court of law. The environment is not conducive to the dispensation of justice. Whatever is happening here, we have said it before that it’s… a mockery of justice,”Mr Lukwago laboured to speak to the journalists.

When it was the turn for Ms Martha Karua, Dr Besigye’s lead lawyer, to also brief the journalists in the very noisy environment, she condemned the impunity exhibited by the security.

“You can see that this truck is intentionally parked here, it’s not moving away. These are the cons of aggression that are happening daily from obstruction to access,” she said.

Earlier in the court session, the interjections by a host of defence lawyers grew louder and louder as they took on the military state prosecution.

Arrival to court

This time around, Dr Besigye and aide Hajj Obeid Lutale were brought to court before 9am, unlike in the previous two sessions when they were brought in past 10am.

Because they had been brought in earlier than usual, their supporters, who used to cheer them up on arrival, were absent. Their lawyers had also not yet arrived at court.

At around 10am, a host of defence lawyers marched towards the courtroom but they were stopped by security personnel.

A heated verbal exchange ensued, with the lawyers demanding to know why they were being blocked from accessing the courtroom. This square-off was resolved after a list of the lawyers was read. One by one, their names were read as they accessed the courtroom.

Tempers ran high when Mr Eron Kiiza, one of the defence lawyers, persistently referred to the court martial as a tribunal, a reference that didn’t go well with one of the judge advocates, Col Richard Tukachungurwa.

“Counsel Kiiza, if you read the UPDF Act, they don’t have the word tribunal. I don’t want to hear the word tribunal,” Col Turacungurwa cautioned counsel Kiiza.

Hitting back, counsel Kiiza cautioned that he shouldn’t exchange with him.

“Judge advocate, you are not supposed to exchange with me, you are not a member of the court, you are to advise it and they tell me,” Mr Kiiza hit back, amid laughter in the court.

The judge advocate was booed by Dr Besigye’s supporters when he arrogantly said his word in the court was final.

He threatened that if Mr Kiiza was not careful, he would end up in the hands of the law.

“You wait to read the law because you may end up in the hands of the law today,” he shouted at Mr Kiiza.

Counsel Kiiza, who was not moved, retorted: “Even you, you may end up there…”

The director of prosecutions at the military court, Mr Raphael Mugisha, complained about the conduct of the lawyers, especially that of Mr Kiiza, including the press-ups that he had made at the last court appearance.

But in his response and defence, Mr Kiiza said he was in the habit of making press-ups because he didn’t want to look fat like some people whom he didn’t mention, a response that elicited loud laughter in the court.