COURT .
Veteran Ugandan politician and former President of Forum for Democratic Change(FDC) Dr Kizza Besigye , Hajj Lutale and their co-accused Capt Denis Oola,a serving soldier in the military , have finally been committed to the High Court.
This comes after the State told Nakawa Chief Magistrates Court on Thursday, May 29, that investigations into their alleged offences are complete .
According some evidence on court records , Dr Besigye ,also a four-time former presidential candidate travelled to Geneva, Switzerland, early last year seeking military support to dislodge President Museveni’s government in which he sought to kill him using a drone strike.
Evidence further show that Dr Besigye, travelled to Geneva on January 24, 2024 where he met some people, who agreed to become their security advisors and carry out the alleged subversive activities .
The names of the said security advisors have been withheld, though the prosecution has opted to use initials for their identification, like AW and JW.
“Al (Dr Besigye) undertook to provide AW (an initial of one of the people Dr Besigye met) with the President’s movement routine and vulnerable points to facilitate his assassination.
In exchange for AWs assistance, Al and JW undertook to grant the Kurdish government company access to the Ugandan banking sector to launder money, permit the use of Uganda’s airfields for trafficking illicit goods, including drugs.
Use Uganda as a safe haven for Kurdish fugitives, and generally permit the use of Uganda for illicit activities, once the plot to overturn the government was successful,” the indictment read in part.
The summary of the evidence further showed that Dr Besigye provided a list of security installations to him in advancing the subversive activities in the country as their targets for attacks.
Some of the targeted security installations ,according to evidence before court include: Simba barracks in Mbarara, 2nd Division Makenke Barracks, Bugemba Barracks, Bihango Military School, Kakyoma Mountain brigade Kabarole, Gadaffi Military Barracks in Magamaga, Mayuge District.
Others are the Marine Division, Luzira, Air Force Academy – Nakasongola, Engineering College, Luzira, Junior Staff College, Kimaka, Singo Karugutu Training School, Ntoroko Military Intelligence and security school in Nakasongola District, Makindye Military Barracks, the police school in Bwebajja, and Oliver Tambo Kaweweta.
The indictment further shows that Dr Besigye was involved in sponsoring 36 former FDC party members who travelled to Kisumu for training in subversive activities.
He is also accused of harbouring a plan to poison top government officials with Ricin type of poison.
The names of the said government officials were not mentioned in the summary of evidence.
Earlier in the day, the defence lawyers, led by Kampala city mayor Mr Erias Lukwago, laboured in vain to stop the prosecution from amending the charges against their clients.
Also, the court presided over by Chief Magistrate Christine Nantege turned down the application by Dr Besigye’s lawyers to have him released on bail and his co-accused, Hajj Lutale, citing mandatory bail for having completed 180 days on remand without being sent on trial before the High Court.
Mr Lukwago said that the only business that the court was to entertain was the application to release their clients on mandatory bail.
“The law mandates that if a person is charged with a capital offence and remanded for a continuous period exceeding 180 days, the magistrate where the accused appears first after the expiry of the relevant period shall release them on bail at his/her cognizance,” Mr Lukwago argued. When this was not granted , Besigye’s stormed out of court leaving their clients in the dock .
But in rebuttal, prosecution led by , Mr Richard Birivumbuka told court that the suspects had only spent three months and not six months, and that their lawyers were basing their arguments on the charges earlier slapped against Dr Besigye earlier before the Makindye based General Court Martial.
In her brief ruling, Ms Nantege said she doesn’t have the power to release Dr Besigye, who is facing capital charges, as the same is handled by the High Court.
“I have heard the application for mandatory release. The prosecution says three months, the defense says the charges are a continuation from the court-martial. The jurisdiction of this court is ousted by the Practice Directions and this court lacks jurisdiction…” ruled the magistrate
It is now not clear when the trio will reappear in court since police are still conducting their own investigations on the allegations levelled against the accused .