Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni helps army trials whereas his rival Kizza Besigye will spend Christmas in jail

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, 80, has defended using army courts to attempt civilians, following outcry over the arrest and trial of opposition chief Kizza Besigye.

His 68-year-old rival was charged by a army court docket with possessing pistols and making an attempt to purchase weapons overseas – expenses he denies.

Besigye, who was kidnapped whereas visiting Kenya final month and forcibly taken to Uganda, came upon on Tuesday that he would spend Christmas in detention after his trial was delayed till January.

Museveni mentioned any crime involving a firearm was tried by a army court docket to make sure the soundness of the nation as a result of civilian courts have been taking too lengthy to course of instances.

Lots of of civilians have been tried in Uganda’s army courts, though the Constitutional Court docket has dominated towards the follow.

“I’ve seen within the newspapers the arguments of sure attorneys in regards to the justice of sure civilians tried by court docket martial”, President Museveni said in a lengthy message on X.

He mentioned his occasion, the Nationwide Resistance Motion (NRM), had handed a regulation in Parliament in 2005 permitting using army courts resulting from “widespread actions of criminals and terrorists who used weapons to kill folks with out discernment.”

“The civil courts have been clogged with quite a few authorized instances from all around the nation: murders, rapes, assaults, thefts, land points, divorce instances, and so forth., and so forth. In order that they could not rapidly cope with these armed criminals. For stabilization you want velocity,” he mentioned.

Besigye opposed being tried by court docket martial, saying that if expenses have been introduced towards him, he must be tried in a civilian court docket.

A fierce rival of Museveni, he contested and misplaced 4 presidential elections towards the Ugandan chief, in energy since 1986.

He has been much less lively in politics lately and didn’t take part within the 2021 elections.

The veteran politician – who was as soon as Museveni’s private physician – has been arrested dozens of occasions in Uganda however has by no means been convicted.

Earlier this yr, he introduced his return to the political scene to assist untangle his occasion, which has break up into two factions.

Activists and rights teams have rallied behind him, condemning his remedy as unfair.

“Civilians tried by Ugandan army courts don’t take pleasure in the identical due course of ensures as these tried by civilian courts,” mentioned Volker Türk, a senior UN human rights official.

In line with stories, his arrest had been deliberate for months.

Human Rights Watch urged the Ugandan authorities to finish the “militarization of army detention” and the trial of opposition political leaders and their supporters.

However Museveni mentioned the East African nation was proper to resort to courts martial.

He ended his assertion with this reward for them: “You’ve made your individual contribution to our peace.”