Venerable opposition leader, Dr Kizza Besigye, is reported to have gone on a hunger strike again at the Maximum Security Prison in Luzira, Kampala.
The four-time presidential contender had also refused to see his lawyers in protest against his continued detention following a landmark January 31 Supreme Court judgment that ordered the immediate cessation of prosecution of civilians in the General Court Martial and the transfer of their files to ordinary courts with competent jurisdiction.
The lawyers representing Dr. Besigye and Hajj Lutale have since asked the government to release them since their remand warrants expired on February 3, 2025, and were no longer valid.
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In his response to Parliament over the judicial ruling, Mr. Kiryowa said that he had advised the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to liaise with General Court Martial and the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) to take over ongoing crime trials in the military court that have been identified for transfer.
This development came with the arrest of four people in Kampala in two separate incidents over their ‘protest’ against the continued detention of Dr. Besigye, his aide Hajj Obeid Lutale, and other civilians, mostly opposition supporters who were being tried in military courts.
The Deputy Police Spokesperson, Kampala Metropolitan Luke Owoyesigyire, confirmed the arrest of the Peoples Front for Freedom [PFF] promoters, Ingrid Turinawe and James Ssuna, a human rights activist, that were apprehended at Parliament Gate and Constitution Square.
The arrests happened after the two attempted to clash with hundreds of members of the Patriotic League of Uganda (PLU), who were marching uninterrupted from their offices in Naguru, Kampala, with the intention to deliver a petition to Parliament protesting the conduct of certain MPs whom they accuse of “undermining” their leader and the Chief of Defense Forces, Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba.
ASP Owoyesigyire said the suspects would be charged with being a public nuisance. While addressing journalists in Kampala, the police spokesperson, Mr Kituuma Rusoke, said the PLU supporters notified the police about their intentions, and the police guided them on how to proceed with their procession.
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