Besigye’s lawyer Kiiza Arrested, Sentenced to 9 months by Court Martial

Kampala: The General Court Martial presided over by Brig Gen Robert Freeman Mugabe on Tuesday January 7, 2024 sentenced lawyer Eron Kiiza to nine months in prison for professional misconduct.

Kiiza, one of the key lawyers in opposition figure Kizza Besigye’s trial before the military court, was found guilty of “banging the angle bars and didn’t listen to the chairman of the court”.

The fearless lawyer, who was in the morning thrown into the caged dock where his clients Besigye and his associate Obeid Lutale were, was brought to the court after the lunch adjournment in handcuffs and has been ordered locked up at Kitalya Prison.

Samuel Muyizi, one of the defence lawyer, told reporters outside the court that Kiiza had been tortured during the break and that his arm was dislocated.

His sentence was passed without a trial, contrary to basic principals of justice system even in a military court.

Besigye was arrest with his associate Lutale at Riverside Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, on November 16, 2024 on allegations of being in a deal to depose government.

The duo were later extradited to Uganda in a manner that has highly been described by human rights activists as illegal.