Lawyer in high-profile Ugandan treason case charged with related offence

Reuters

A former Ugandan mayor and lawyer representing detained opposition figure Kizza Besigye, who is on trial for treason, has himself been charged with a treason-related offence.

Erias Lukwago appeared before a magistrate's court in the capital Kampala looking visibly weak, local media reported, days after he was arrested at his home.

He denied the charges of failure to report treason and was remanded in prison until next week when his case will be heard.

His arrest on Monday sparked condemnation after Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the country's military chief and son of the president, boasted about it on social media.

Bobi Wine, a Ugandan opposition politician who fled the country fearing for his life after ​contesting the January presidential election, alleged that Lukwago had been arrested on Kainerugaba's orders as he was preparing to serve a court summons on the military chief.

"I call upon all of us to reject and resist this brazen impunity," he posted on X.

Lukwago's family went to court seeking an order compelling security officers, whom they accused of abducting him, to disclose his whereabouts and release him whether "dead or alive".

The family argued that Kainerugaba had claimed responsibility for Lukwago's seizure and boasted about mistreating him on social media.

On X, Kainerugaba shared photos appearing to be of Lukwago blindfolded in an unknown location.

In another post he said: "I'm proud of all the hurt and pain I will inflict on the criminal Lukwago!"

Kainerugaba has a history of controversial posts, some of which have later been deleted, and has boasted of abducting and torturing opposition figures in the past.

Lukwago has been representing Besigye, who has been jailed on treason charges since being abducted in neighbouring Kenya and forcibly returned to Uganda in late 2024.

Besigye is a long-standing political opponent of President Yoweri Museveni. He once served as Museveni's personal doctor before breaking ranks with him in 1999.

He has run against Museveni in several presidential elections and has been detained multiple times.

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