Uganda opposition leader refuses court-appointed lawyers at treason trial

Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye refused to accept the lawyers being forced upon him for his treason trial on Wednesday after his chosen advocates were arrested or barred from the country.

Besigye, 70, a long-time rival of President Yoweri Museveni, has been in jail since late 2024 when he was kidnapped in Kenya and smuggled back to Uganda.

Last month, his main lawyer, former Kampala mayor Erias Lukwago, was seized by the army and thrown in jail, while his other lead lawyer, Kenya’s Martha Karua, was barred from entering the country.

When his treason trial began on Monday, the court said he had to choose from a list of state-approved lawyers, but Besigye has refused.

“The legal team we had is one in whose competence we placed full confidence,” he told the court on Wednesday.

The judge said he had two weeks to accept the lawyers and adjourned the case until July 29.

Human rights lawyer Eron Kiiza told AFP that Besigye’s “chosen lawyers have been deported, abducted and terrorised” and the court has become “an instrument of the very power it exists to restrain”.

Uganda has seen mounting political repression in recent months, with the army arresting opposition figures, lawyers and shutting down a major media group.

President Museveni, 81, has taken a backseat since winning a seventh election in January, allowing his son and head of the army, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, to exert increasing control.

Besigye was a doctor to Museveni during their time fighting as insurgents in the 1980s, but they later fell out and he ran multiple times for the presidency, often facing severe repression.

“We know this trial won’t be fair. Our rights have been abused and laws are not followed. We no longer wish to be part of it,” Besigye told the court on Monday.

Besigye initially faced a court martial but the case was later moved to a civilian court after the Supreme Court ruled it was unconstitutional to try civilians in military courts.

The civilian trial was set to start in September 2025 but there were long delays because the state only presented evidence in June, just as he was losing access to his lawyers.

Besigye has also argued he is being illegally denied bail and medical treatment.