By Nasser Kayanja
KAMPALA. Uganda’s High Court has formally directed veteran opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye and his co-accused Hajji Obeid Lutale to select lawyers from the court’s State Brief register by Wednesday.
This escalates a legal dispute over representation in their treason trial.
A letter dated July 14 from the Criminal Division’s Assistant Registrar, Esther Nakadama Mubiiru, instructed the two accused, who are being held at Luzira Prison, to choose advocates from an attached list to represent them in Criminal Session Case No. 335 of 2025.
“I have been directed by the trial Judge to avail you with a list of advocates on state brief… for you to choose those that can represent you in Criminal Session Case number 335 of 2025,” the letter, seen by this publication , reads.
The registrar asked the accused to communicate their preferred lawyers by July 15, when the case returns to court.
The letter implements a recent ruling issued by Justice Emmanuel Baguma after repeated delays arising from disputes over legal representation.
Baguma directed the Registrar to provide Besigye and Lutale with a list of lawyers on the State Brief criminal panel from which they could choose counsel.
He further ruled that if they failed to make a selection, the court would appoint lawyers on their behalf under Article 28(3) (e) of the Constitution.
The judge made the order after Besigye argued that the absence of his lawyers had been caused by actions of the state and that the trial could not proceed until issues relating to legal representation, access to prosecution evidence and court records were resolved.
Backlash
The court’s latest move has drawn strong criticism from human rights lawyer Eron Kiiza, who has been part of Besigye’s defence team.
“The right of Dr. Kizza Besigye and Mr. Lutale to lawyers of their own choosing is not a courtesy the State may grant or withdraw at pleasure,” Kiiza said in a statement on Tuesday.
“It is a non-derogable guarantee under Articles 28(3)(d) and 44 of the 1995 Ugandan Constitution.”
Kiiza urged advocates on the High Court’s State Brief register to decline any appointment, arguing that Besigye and Lutale already had lawyers of their choice.
“Besigye and Lutale are not without lawyers. They have chosen counsel — able, willing, and ready,” he said.
He alleged that members of the defence team had been prevented from representing the accused through arrests, deportations and intimidation.
Kiiza cited the detention of lawyer and opposition politician Erias Lukwago, the deportation of Kenyan Senior Counsel Martha Karua and what he described as continued harassment of other defence lawyers.
“A right violated by force cannot be cured by substitution of lawyers chosen by the accused with lawyers chosen by the State,” Kiiza said.
Besigye and Lutale deny treason charges accusing them of participating in a plot between 2003 and November 2024 to overthrow President Yoweri Museveni’s government, including by allegedly seeking military, financial and logistical support during meetings in Uganda, Kenya, Greece and Switzerland.
The case was transferred to the High Court after Uganda’s Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that civilians cannot be tried before military courts.
Since then, proceedings have been repeatedly delayed by disputes over legal representation, disclosure of prosecution evidence and preliminary applications filed by the defence.