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Uganda’s military court rules it can try an opposition figure on charges of treason punishable by death

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — A prominent opposition figure in Uganda will stand trial on serious charges of treason, a military court ruled Tuesday, escalating the legal troubles facing Kizza Besigye ahead of the 2026 presidential election.

Treason is punishable by death for convicts.

Besigye, who has contested the presidency four times, went missing in the Kenyan capital Nairobi on November 16. Days later, he and his co-suspect, an aide named Obeid Lutale, appeared before a military court in the Ugandan city of Kampala. capital.

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Besigye was charged with illegal possession of a firearm and a charge related to allegedly soliciting military support abroad to destabilize national security. Besigye, who denied the allegations, has been in custody since then.

A military prosecutor on Monday amended the charge sheet to include treason and introduced a third suspect, a serving army officer, surprising lawyers who then challenged the move.

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The 68-year-old Besigye was arrested and abused many times during his political career. But he was never convicted of a crime.

Amnesty International has called for Besigye’s release, saying his “kidnapping was in clear violation of international human rights law and the extradition process with due process protections.”

The Besigye trial is “the latest example of Uganda’s authorities abusing military courts and military charges to suppress opposition,” Human Rights Watch said.

Besigye’s trial is being closely watched by Ugandans concerned about political maneuvering ahead of the presidential election. Although Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986, is expected to be re-elected, some observers believe he will step aside.

Museveni has no clear successor within the ranks of the ruling National Resistance Movement party, a reason for widespread fears of an unpredictable political transition.

Besigye, a qualified doctor who retired from the Ugandan army with the rank of colonel, is a former chairman of the opposition party Forum for Democratic Change (FDC). With Besigye at the helm, the FDC was Uganda’s most prominent opposition group for years. He is a fierce critic of Museveni, for whom he once served as military aide and personal physician before they fell out in the 1990s over what Besigye said was Museveni’s slide into authoritarianism.

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Museveni has long been criticized by human rights organizations for alleged abuses against opposition figures.

Uganda has not experienced a peaceful transfer of power since gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1962.

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