The wife of Ugandan former presidential candidate Kizza Besigye has called the trial against him a “sham”, as he faces a court martial in the capital, Kampala.Besigye is a former comrade-in-arms and personal physician to President Yoweri Museveni but has become a government target since he joined the opposition 25 years ago.His wife, Winnie Byanyima, claims he was kidnapped while on a trip to Kenya in November and is now being prosecuted with another man, Obeid Lutale, including for treason, which is punishable by the death penalty.When the trial resumed earlier this month, one of Besigye’s lawyers was sent to prison for nine months.”I do not expect justice,” Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS, wrote late Thursday on X. “I will watch this travesty of justice at the sham military court.”The charges against Kizza Besigye and Obeid Lutale are political, President Museveni and his son run the army. The military court falls under them. Father and son are the accusers and the judges in the case against my husband.”Museveni’s son Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is head of the armed forces and tipped as his father’s possible successor, is no stranger to controversy on X.Last week, he announced he was quitting the platform so he could concentrate on his job, only to return several days later.Late on Thursday, Kainerugaba posted that Besigye would be “hanged”.”Dr Kizza Besigye used to call me a clown and a coward… We will hang KB on Heroes’ Day,” he wrote, referring to the memorial on June 9 for those who died in the guerilla war that brought Museveni to power in 1986.”That’s the best day for him to die.”In response, Byanyima said: “I will attend the hanging you have planned. When you are done, I will honour and bury a true hero of Uganda and Africa.”The struggle for our rights, for equality and justice will continue.”When the trial began in November, the UN and several human rights organisations voiced their concern about the suppression of the opposition in Uganda, with indications it has intensified recently, before presidential elections in 2026.
Fri, 17 Jan 2025 09:42:21 GMT
