Wife asks court to compel release of Besigye

The saga over Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye's incarceration continues in Uganda, with his wife now petitioning the High Court to compel prison authorities to release him and his aide, Obeid Lutale, ‘alive or dead’. The Monitor reports that Winnie Byanyima, in her affidavit before the court, contends that despite the Supreme Court stopping the prosecution of civilians by the military and ordering the transfer of their files to civilian courts, the prison officials continue to hold her husband, a four-time presidential contender, illegally. Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS, further states that the continued illegal detention of her husband is an infringement upon his rights to personal liberty, among other rights, under the 1995 Constitution. As reported in Legalbrief Today, last Friday, the Supreme Court ruled, in a majority judgment of 6:1, that it was unconstitutional for civilians to be tried in military courts. Following the verdict of the highest court in the land, lawyers for Besigye and Lutale have been seeking their release. Besigye and Lutale have been in jail since November last year. However, Besigye’s legal team hasn’t been successful after the prison officials said they can’t release their clients without a release letter from the office of the Attorney-General Kiryowa Kiwanuka. The AG said he had written to the Director of Public Prosecutions, Jane Frances Abode, asking for the way forward.

Full report in The Monitor