Judge Gives Final Adjournment in Besigye Case

The hearing of the case in which jailed opposition politician Dr Kizza Besigye and two others are charged with treason has been adjourned to October 5, 2026, after State Attorneys failed to appear in court at the agreed time. The trial judge, Emmanuel Baguma, on Wednesday expressed frustration over the delay and warned that the next hearing would be the final adjournment of the case.

When the matter came up, defence lawyer Farouk Kizito Kamulegeya told the court that when they last appeared before court on Thursday last week, they agreed to return at 11 am on Wednesday. Kamulegeya said it was already 11:14 am, but neither the prison authorities nor the State Attorneys had appeared in court.

He said Chief State Attorney Richard Birivumbuka and Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions Thomas Jatiko were attending to another matter. The defence lawyer asked the court to stand over the matter for 30 minutes to allow the prosecutors time to join the proceedings. In his ruling, Justice Baguma noted that Birivumbuka and Jatiko had been present during the previous session and neither had informed him that they would be engaged in another court on Wednesday. He said the case had been adjourned to Wednesday with their consent.

The judge expressed his displeasure, saying the court was not a place for games, before adjourning the case to October 5, 2026, for further hearing. The visibly frustrated judge warned that this would be the final adjournment of the case. Shortly after the case was adjourned, a prison bus arrived carrying Hajji Obeid Lutale and Captain Denis Oola, who are jointly charged with Besigye. The three are accused of plotting to overthrow the government of Uganda.

When the prison bus arrived, the State Attorneys, who had been in another courtroom handling the trial of a suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) commander, rushed to attend the Besigye matter. However, by the time they arrived, Justice Baguma had already left the courtroom, and the majority of the members of the public had also departed.

Only the defence lawyers, including Miriam Lutale, Kizito Kamulegeya and Julius Sserwambala, remained behind to brief their clients on what had transpired after seeing the prison bus arrive. Justice Baguma had previously warned the prison authorities against bringing the accused persons to court late.

Meanwhile, the court was expected on Wednesday to rule on whether a Shs59.32 million Makerere University transcription report could be admitted as evidence in the case. The defence has asked the court to reject the report. The report was presented by the prosecution’s second witness, Medadi Ssentanda Erisa, a senior lecturer at Makerere University and an expert in linguistics.

Ssentanda told the court last Thursday that on September 5, 2025, he received a flash disk from the Deputy Director of CID/SID containing five audio and video recordings of meetings held in Geneva, Athens and Nairobi. He testified that the recordings lasted a combined 25 hours, 21 minutes, and three seconds and that Makerere University charged Shs59.32 million to transcribe them.

After payment was made, the recordings were transcribed, and a report was sent to the CID on October 7, 2025. Ssentanda presented the forwarding letter and transcription report to the court, stating that the transcription was accurate to the best of their knowledge. However, the defence objected to the report being admitted as evidence, arguing that the original flash disk from which the transcription was made had not been tendered in court.

The defence argued that this raised questions about the authenticity and chain of custody of the electronic evidence, citing provisions of the Electronic Evidence Act and the Electronic Transactions Act. The prosecution, led by Chief State Attorney Richard Birivumbuka, argued that the objection was premature because the State was seeking to tender Ssentanda’s signed transcription report and not the flash disk itself.

The court had been expected to rule on the admissibility of the transcription report on Wednesday. According to the prosecution, Besigye, Lutale and Oola held meetings in Uganda, Kenya, Greece and Switzerland to solicit funding, acquire weapons and organise paramilitary activities.

Prosecutors further allege that Besigye met an alleged Kurdish intelligence operative identified as Andrew Wilson and received US$5,000 to facilitate the transportation of 36 Ugandans to Kisumu, Kenya, for military training. The recruits were allegedly intercepted and deported before the training commenced.

The State also alleges that Besigye sought to acquire surface-to-air missiles, ricin poison and counterfeit currency, and planned to use drone technology to assassinate President Yoweri Museveni. The prosecution says it intends to rely on witness testimony, audio and video recordings, social media communications, immigration records and telephone data as evidence during the trial.