By Angel Lubowa
KAMPALA
Dr Kizza Besigye’s Legal team has announced that they will not rest until Besigye is out and free.
Speaking immediately after the High Court Criminal Division denied Dr Besigye and his friend Hajj Obeid Lutale bail Friday morning sighting national security interests, Hajj Erias Lukwago the Kampala lawyer and Lord Mayor said they aren’t deterred.
He said the quick next move is to appeal the unkind ruling saying court admitted that the applicants met all the legal requirements.
Lukwago and his teams reaction followed the High Court’s denial of Dr Besigye and Lutale’s bail application.
In a ruling to a fully packed courtroom, the court emphasized it’s discretion in balancing individual freedoms with national interests. The matter was being handled by Lady Justice Rosette Kania Comfort.
“Although all grounds for bail are met,” the judge ruled, “the applications for bail are denied. The investigations are ongoing, and the applicants may still fall prey to the temptation of interfering with those investigations.”
These are serious charges that touch on the national security of Uganda,” the ruling
read in part.
Adding that , “While Makhoha and others charged with terrorism have secured bail, the severity of these treason charges warrants cautious handling. The court cannot, at this stage, make a determination on the evidence while investigations are still ongoing.”
The said legal requirements included applicants having proven fixed places of residence, had no history of absconding, and had presented sound and substantial sureties.
MPs Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, Dr Nicholas Thadeus Kamara, Tonny Muhindo, and Francis Mwijukye stood surety for Besigye, while Hajj Lutale presented family members including his wife and blood relatives.
Dr. Besigye and Hajj Lutale were last year abducted in Nairobi, Kenya last year in what his lawyers have called an illegal cross-border rendition.
He and Lutale were eventually paraded before the General Court Martial in Uganda and charged with treason.
But the Supreme Court ruling on January 31 stripped military courts of the power to try civilians resulting into their files getting transferred to the Court system and case restarting in a lower court.
But for purposes of securing a bail as the file progresses, the legal team petitioned the High Court criminal division for a bail which court threw out.
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