Kampala, Uganda (AFP) – An Ugandan military court on Tuesday adjourned the trial of abducted veteran opposition figure Kizza Besigye to next year after his lead lawyer was blocked from working in the country.
Besigye was snatched last month from neighbouring Kenya while in Nairobi to attend a book launch by Kenyan opposition politician and lawyer Martha Karua, according to his spouse and rights groups.
The 68-year-old retired army colonel has been accused of possessing weapons and other offences in a military court.
He is standing trial alongside another opposition figure, Hajji Lutale Kamulegeya, who was also detained in Nairobi.
On Tuesday, the General Court Martial in Kampala ruled it would continue hearing the case on January 7, 2025, following a request from the defence team.
Karua, who is his lead lawyer, was denied a temporary practising certificate by the Uganda Law Council, which cited her application as being politically motivated.
“We are facing legal hurdles,” lawyer Erias Lukwago told the court, in a session marked by heated exchanges.
Another lawyer representing Besigye was taken into custody ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, the defence said.
“The court is taking its time. They planned to have Besigye and our colleague spend the Christmas holiday in prison,” Lukwago told AFP.
Once President Yoweri Museveni’s trusted personal physician, Besigye has been repeatedly targeted by the authorities since falling out with the president in the late 1990s and running unsuccessfully against him in four elections.
Uganda has cracked down on the opposition in recent months.
In July, 36 members of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) — the party Besigye founded two decades ago — were deported from Kenya and tried in Uganda on terrorism charges.
© Agence France-Presse
