Besigye fails in lawyer deportation challenge

The Ugandan High Court has dismissed an application by jailed opposition politician Dr Kizza Besigye and his co-accused Obeid Lutale against Chief of Defence Forces General Muhoozi Kainerugaba and the Attorney-General over the deportation of Kenyan lawyer Martha Karua and the arrest of Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago. ChimpReports notes that Acting High Court Judge Simon Peter Kinobe has ruled that Besigye and Lutale had failed to prove that Muhoozi and the government deliberately interfered with their constitutional right to legal representation or made their ongoing criminal proceedings unfair. The judge also found that social media statements attributed to Muhoozi – including one in which he claimed personal responsibility for Karua’s deportation – were not sufficient evidence to establish that he directed immigration officials to deny the Kenyan lawyer entry into Uganda. The court said no cogent evidence had been presented showing that Muhoozi exercised legal authority over the immigration officers responsible for the decision or that they acted on his instructions. Besigye and Lutale had sued Muhoozi personally alongside the Attorney-General, accusing him of involvement in what they described as a sustained campaign to dismantle their defence team. Their lawyers relied partly on posts attributed to Muhoozi’s verified X account following Karua’s denial of entry at Entebbe International Airport on 22 June. ‘Do not blame my great father for this decision. I deported her myself. She’s no longer allowed in our country,’ Muhoozi was quoted as posting on 23 June. The application also cited posts in which Muhoozi said Besigye ‘will not escape his just sentence’ and, in another, stated: ‘But we will hang him very soon.’