Ugandan opposition leader and four-time presidential candidate Kizza Besigye, stands in the dock at the Makindye Martial Court in Kampala, Uganda, November 20. 2024. |© 2024 Hajarah Nalwadda/AP Photo|
Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, Sara Jackson, criticized Ugandan authorities for assaulting, convicting, and sentencing Eron Kiiza, a lawyer for detained opposition leader Kizza Besigye.
Sara described the sentencing of Eron Kiiza to nine months imprisonment as outrageous and called for his immediate release.
“Eron Kiiza’s imprisonment is outrageous. Military personnel baselessly prevented him from accessing defence benches, then assaulted and arrested him before hauling him to a court-martial, which convicted and sentenced him without even reading charges or hearing arguments,” Sara said.
“This sham process directly violates Uganda’s constitution, especially after the 2022 constitutional court ruling making trials of civilians in military courts illegal. Ugandan authorities must stop trying civilians in military courts, stop targeting lawyers simply for doing their job, and immediately release Eron Kiiza,” she stressed.
Background
At 9 am 7 January 2025 during a hearing in his clients’ case, soldiers physically prevented Kiiza from entering the military court’s section for defendants’ lawyers. He responded by shouting and banging on the courtroom barricade.
Soldiers assaulted Kiiza while removing him from the courtroom, before arresting and placing him in the dock alongside his clients.
At 4 pm, the court convicted him of “contempt of court” and sentenced him to nine months imprisonment at Kitalya prison.
On 16 November 2024, Kiiza’s client Kizza Besigye was abducted in Kenya, before resurfacing days later at a military court in Kampala, which charged him and fellow opposition member Haji Obeid Lutale of alleged offences relating to security and unlawful possession of weaponry.
Amnesty International has called for Besigye’s immediate release as his abduction clearly violated international human rights law and the process of extradition with its requisite fair trial protections.
According to defence lawyers, the military court has rejected over 30 lawyers from representing Besigye and Lutale, and numerous lawyers have been harassed by security personnel while attempting to access court premises.
