KAMPALA, Uganda — Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye appeared Wednesday in a military court in Uganda days after he was reported missing during a book launch in Kenya. He was charged with possession of an illegal firearm.
The former president of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party also was charged with seeking military support from abroad to destabilize Uganda’s military forces.
Besigye was produced in the Ugandan court four days after he went missing in Nairobi and hours after his wife claimed he had been kidnapped. He was charged alongside FDC member Hajj Lutale Kamulegeya.
The pair, who deny all charges against them, were remanded in custody until Dec. 2.
Besigye, who at first appeared without lawyers, rejected government legal representation and said he was not a member of the armed forces and should be tried in a civilian court.
His wife Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS, wrote on the social platform X on Wednesday that her husband was “kidnapped” on Saturday in Kenya and that she was “reliably informed” that he was being held in a military jail.
“We his family and his lawyers demand to see him. He is not a soldier. Why is he being held in a military jail?” Byanyima wrote.
The Ugandan government has not commented.
Korir Singoei, Kenya’s foreign affairs permanent secretary, told local media that Kenya was not involved in the alleged incident.
Besigye, a fierce critic of Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, has faced arrest and assault on previous occasions. He was once Museveni’s personal doctor and has contested and lost four presidential elections.
Museveni, who has ruled the east African country since 1986, has been criticized by human rights groups over alleged violations against opposition figures.
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