Ugandan military prosecutors on Monday added a treachery charge, which carries the death penalty, against prominent opposition figure Kiiza Besigye, escalating his legal battles and intensifying scrutiny of President Yoweri Museveni’s government.
Besigye, a long-time rival of Museveni, has been a vocal critic of the president’s nearly 40-year rule. He was detained in neighboring Kenya in November 2023 and later extradited to Uganda, where he was charged with illegal possession of firearms and undermining national security in a military court, despite being a civilian. Besigye and his aide, Obeid Lutale, have been imprisoned in Kampala since their arrest.
The new treachery charge accuses the two of possessing intelligence about a plot to undermine national security and deliberately withholding it from authorities, according to a charge sheet seen by Reuters. Besigye’s lawyers rejected the charges as procedurally flawed and politically motivated.
Winnie Byanyima, Besigye’s wife and executive director of UNAIDS, condemned the charges as baseless and reflective of a campaign to stifle dissent. Amnesty International echoed her concerns, calling the charges and Besigye’s prolonged detention part of a broader pattern of rights violations by Museveni’s regime.
Adding to the controversy, human rights lawyer Eron Kiiza, part of Besigye’s defense team, was sentenced to nine months in prison for alleged contempt of court following a January 7 altercation with court officials. Amnesty International decried his detention as “outrageous” and demanded his immediate release.
Besigye’s arrest marks another chapter in his fraught relationship with Museveni. Once his personal physician and political ally, Besigye later became one of Museveni’s fiercest opponents, challenging him in four presidential elections, all of which he claimed were marred by fraud.
Human rights groups have long accused Museveni’s government of suppressing opposition through arbitrary arrests, torture, and other abuses. The government denies these allegations, but critics argue that the legal actions against Besigye and his team further erode Uganda’s democratic fabric.
The treachery charge underscores the precarious position of Uganda’s opposition leaders as Museveni tightens his grip on power amidst growing calls for political reform.
