Uganda's Besigye refuses state lawyers at treason trial as his own legal team is jailed or barred from the country
Kizza Besigye, Uganda's opposition leader held since a 2024 kidnapping from Kenya, refused court-appointed lawyers on July 15 after his main lawyer was seized by the army and his Kenyan advocate was barred from entering Uganda; a Ugandan High Court adjourned the trial for two weeks
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Summary
Uganda's opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye, 70, refused to accept state-appointed lawyers at his treason trial in Kampala on July 15. His own legal team had been neutralized: main lawyer Erias Lukwago, a former Kampala mayor, was seized by the army last month, and Kenyan advocate Martha Karua was barred from entering Uganda. Besigye has been in detention since late 2024, when he was kidnapped in Kenya and brought back to Uganda. His co-accused, Hajj Obeid Lutale, faces the same situation. Uganda's High Court adjourned the case for two weeks under the State Brief Scheme to allow both defendants to choose from a state-provided list, after prosecutors completed evidence disclosure.
Why it matters
The case against Besigye, a long-time rival of President Yoweri Museveni, is proceeding in conditions his supporters and international observers describe as incompatible with a fair trial: his lawyers are imprisoned or excluded while he remains in custody. The pattern, lawyers removed, access denied, state lawyers imposed, is the mechanism by which governments convert political detention into a formal prosecution.
What to watch
- Whether Besigye and Lutale accept a lawyer from the State Brief Scheme or continue to refuse
- Whether Lukwago's army detention is challenged in court and on what grounds
- International and East African human rights body responses to the trial conditions
- How Uganda's government defends the lawyer-removal actions in any international forum