Besigye’s Life is In Danger , legal team demands urgent medical transfer

Lawyers of the jailed veteran opposition politician, Dr Kizza Besigye have raised an alarm over the health of their client.

They said on Wednesday that Besigye’s health is deteriorating after paying him a visit at Luzira maximum security where he has been incarcerated since November, 2024.

Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, who led the defence team to Luzira Prison, said Besigye could lose his life if he does not receive special treatment which is not available at Luzira prison.

“Since Friday, he has not moved out of his cell; reason, he is not feeling well,” said Lukwago.

“Besigye has been experiencing episodes of some drastic spike in blood pressure levels which are not explained, and the unfortunate bit is that he has not been given the opportunity of seeing his personal physician,” Lukwago emphasised.

“It is only the in-house doctors who have been coming to monitor the situation, but unfortunately, they are ill-equipped. They don’t have the necessary equipment that would be necessary to examine him and get to understand what is really bothering him,” Lukwago, a human rights lawyer, added.

Besigye together with political associate Hajj Obeid Lutale Kamulegeya are detained at Luzira prison on charges of illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, and treachery.

They were arrested from a residential apartment complex in Nairobi where Ugandan officials say he had gone to meet persons with the view of mobilising resources and logistics to destabilise Uganda.

Besigye is also battling another case of inciting the public when he in 2022 led a demonstration downtown Kampala against high commodity prices.

He was scheduled to appear before Buganda Road Court on Wednesday for the hearing of the case but was not produced to Court by prison authorities.

He instead wrote a brief note to the Magistrate informing him that he was unwell which compelled the Magistrate to adjourn the case to Friday.

Besigye is reportedly on a hunger strike over failure by the government to release him from jail despite the Supreme Court ruling that declared the trial of civilians in military courts illegal.

Besigye and Lutale were remanded to Luzira prison by the General Court Martial.

They were scheduled to appear again in the General Court Martial on February 3, but on January 31, the Supreme Court ruled against the trial of civilians in military courts.

The Supreme Court also ruled that the General Court Martial is not a competent court of law, but rather a disciplinary unit formed to discipline errant serving officers of the UPDF.

“Right now, Besigye is in illegal incarceration. He maintains that he is in a safe house. He is not on remand, because there is no remand warrant from any court,” said Lukwago.

“The proceedings before the general court martial were terminated by the Supreme Court, so there are no pending charges against him, no ongoing proceedings before any court, no order of remand, he is not a convict. So, his status is unique,” Lukwago emphasised.

Legal conundrum

Following the Supreme Court ruling and failure by the government to release Besigye and Lutale, their lawyers filed a habeas corpus application before the High Court to summon the Attorney General and the Commissioner General of prisons to explain why Besigye and Lutale were still behind bars.

The application is pending hearing.

However, the Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Hon. Norbert Mao, told Parliament last week that the Supreme Court did not issue a release order for Besigye and his co-accused.

“The Supreme Court said bring the prisoners to the proper court. It did not hear the cases; so how could it determine them? We should not excite the public that it should be a release,” said Mao.

To allay MPs’ concerns on the delayed implementation of the court ruling, Mao said the responsible government authorities are taking action.
“Concerning implementation, the courts do not implement their own decision. I do not know whether court orders were extracted but there are procedures to be followed to transfer cases to the civilian courts,” he added.

He castigated those attacking the prisons authorities for the delayed transfer of civilians facing trial in the General Court Martial, advising that the role lies with the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP).

Life in danger

Meanwhile, Lukwago reiterated that if Besigye is not released from jail, he might not survive.

“All we can tell you is that Besigye’s life is in danger. They are not ready to evacuate to any other facility with enough capacity. He has no control over his health right now,” said Lukwago.

“Besigye is in the hands of the prison authorities, and we are asking them to evacuate him, take him to a facility with capacity to deal with his condition. They should immediately transfer him to any facility that can handle him outside of Luzira prison. Short of that, we may get bad news. That is our worry.”

Besigye is under solitary confinement, and according to Lukwago, he has not moved out of his cell since Friday