Besigye asks court to stop detention, prosecution in Uganda

Kizza Besigye has asked Uganda’s High Court to stop both his detention and his treason prosecution, pushing the country’s justice system into a direct test of how far political power can reach into the courts. His motion says the state violated his rights when he and Obeid Lutale were removed from Nairobi on November 16, 2024, after attending Martha Karua’s book launch, then taken back to Uganda outside formal extradition procedures.

The filing names Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the head of Uganda’s military and son of President Yoweri Museveni, along with Gen. Peter Ahimbisibwe, Lt. Col. Ephraim Byaruhanga and the Attorney General as respondents. That makes the case more than a routine challenge to custody. It places Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate who ran against Museveni in 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016, in a legal fight with figures at the center of Uganda’s ruling order.

Human rights groups have long argued that the arrest and transfer were unlawful. Amnesty International said it was deeply disturbed by Besigye’s abduction in Nairobi and the lack of any extradition process from Kenya. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights later said repeated denials of bail to Besigye and Lutale were seriously troubling.

The case also sits in the shadow of a major Supreme Court ruling on January 31, 2025, when Uganda’s top court said military courts cannot try civilians and ordered ongoing military cases moved into the ordinary court system. That decision made Besigye’s detention one of the most closely watched tests of whether Uganda would bring politically sensitive cases under civilian judicial control, or continue to use security structures to manage opposition.

According to court papers, the treason allegations involve meetings in Uganda and abroad between 2023 and 2024, and prosecutors say the defendants sought funds, weapons and paramilitary support to overthrow the government. Local reporting places the next hearing on June 11, 2026, when prosecutors are expected to call their first witness. Besigye and Lutale remain on remand, while the case has also expanded to include Capt. Denis Oola as a co-accused.

The political temperature has been heightened by alleged social-media posts from Muhoozi, including one quoted in court papers that said, “We will hang KB on Heroes’ Day,” and another from 2026 describing Besigye as a “dead man walking.” Besigye’s lawyers say those statements prejudiced the case and undermined judicial independence.

For Uganda, the question now is larger than one opposition leader. If the court allows the prosecution to proceed, the government can claim the system is working. If the defense succeeds in pausing the case, the detention itself could become another indictment of how security power is being used to narrow political opposition.