Last Updated on February 19, 2025 by Turkana County News Online
Sick Kizza Besigye Bundled Back to Prison
Dr. Kizza Besigye and Haji Obeid Rutale have been charged with unlawful possession of two pistols and ammunition while in Nairobi on November 16th.
A civil division court has ordered that Ugandan opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye to be returned to prison despite his deteriorating health.
Judge Douglas Singiza stated that Besigye was unwell and should be taken back to prison.
“This is an administrative order. If a prisoner is sick, I can’t continue with him, He might faint,” the judge said.
Besigye, who appeared in court on Wednesday, February 19 appeared weak and frail in court.
His aide, Hajj Obeid Lutale, also appeared in court alongside him, but the judge ordered that they all be taken to prison.
Besigye’s lawyers remained in court to file a habeas corpus plea for his release.
The Ugandan opposition leader was recently rushed to a hospital due to his deteriorating health.
He has been on a hunger strike, which significantly impacted his condition. Besigye was taken to a clinic in Kampala, where he received medical care.
The opposition leader’s family have been demanding for his unconditional release since he was taken into captivity by the Ugandan authorities in Nairobi saying that there is no crime that he committed.
On Tuesday, February 18, Besigye’s family penned an emotional letter to President Yoweri Museveni’s administration regarding his continued illegal detention, which they claim directly violates court orders.
In the letter, the family mentioned that a few days ago, like many Ugandans, they awoke to the news that Dr. Kizza Besigye had begun a hunger strike to protest his ongoing detention—a fact that some officials are now attempting to deny, alleging that he is “sick”.
Furthermore, in the letter the family described the opposition leader’s current detention, without any legal basis, as state-sanctioned kidnapping.
