Veteran politician, Dr. Kizza Besigye declined to plead to new charges of treachery on Monday, citing concerns over the General Court Martial’s jurisdiction to try civilians for offenses allegedly committed outside Uganda.
This development follows the prosecution’s introduction of a new charge and a new suspect, Captain Dennis Ola, a serving officer with the UPDF Armory Brigade, as a co-accused.
Besigye’s lawyers, Erias Lukwago and Martha Karua, argue that the court lacks territorial jurisdiction to try offenses committed beyond Uganda’s borders.
They point out that the chargesheet alleges the offenses took place in Greece, Switzerland, and Kenya, where the accused were found with weapons purportedly monopolized by the Ugandan defense forces.
Besigye and Lukwago contend that weapons can only be considered a monopoly within the country where that monopoly exists. Therefore, weapons found in Kenya, Switzerland, and Greece cannot be considered a Ugandan monopoly.
Dr. Besigye disputes the legality of his arrest in Kenya and subsequent extradition to Uganda, claiming it did not follow due process.
He argues that, had he been a fugitive, the Ugandan Justice Minister would have initiated the proper judicial process by contacting their Kenyan counterpart to facilitate his handover.
The defense team has requested that the court strike out the chargesheet due to its defects, but the state insists that other inter-state arrangements, beyond extradition and deportation, were used to bring the suspects back to Uganda for trial.
Besigye and his colleague Hajji Obeid Lutale denied the charges and were remanded to Luzira prison until Tuesday, January 14, 2025.
