The transfer escalates the case in opposition to Kizza Besigye as a treachery conviction is punishable by the loss of life penalty.
A Ugandan army court docket has dominated that distinguished opposition determine Kizza Besigye could be tried on the cost of treachery, for which he may face the loss of life penalty if convicted.
The ruling on Tuesday escalates the authorized hassle Besigye faces within the run-up to presidential elections scheduled for 2026.
Besigye, who has contested the presidency 4 occasions, went missing within the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on November 16.
Days later, he and his co-accused, an assistant named Obeid Lutale, appeared earlier than a army court docket in Kampala, the Ugandan capital.
Besigye was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and a cost regarding the alleged solicitation of army assist abroad with the intention to destabilise nationwide safety.
The opposition chief, who denied the fees, has since been remanded in custody.
A army prosecutor amended the cost sheet to incorporate treachery and launched a 3rd suspect, who’s a serving military officer.
Besigye, 68, has confronted arrest and assault many occasions in his political profession. However he has by no means been convicted of against the law.
United Kingdom-based Amnesty Worldwide has known as for Besigye’s launch, saying his “abduction clearly violated worldwide human rights regulation and the method of extradition with its requisite honest trial protections”.
United States-based Human Rights Watch mentioned Besigye’s trial is “the most recent instance of Uganda’s authorities misusing army courts and military-related expenses to clamp down on the opposition”.
President Yoweri Museveni has lengthy been criticised by human rights teams for alleged violations in opposition to opposition figures.
Though Museveni, who has held energy since 1986, is anticipated to hunt re-election, he has not confirmed it but.
Museveni has no apparent successor throughout the ranks of the governing Nationwide Resistance Motion, which is creating widespread fears over an unpredictable political transition.
Besigye, a professional doctor who retired from Uganda’s army on the rank of colonel, is a former president of the opposition Discussion board for Democratic Change (FDC) social gathering.
With Besigye at its helm, the FDC was for a few years Uganda’s most distinguished opposition group.
