Uganda opposition leader Kizza Besigye who has been charged with treason.
BY SAM ALFAN.
Uganda opposition leader Kizza Besigye will remain in custody until May 25 when he appears before Moroto Magistrate’s Court for the mention of a treason charge against him.
The four-time presidential candidate was charged with treason at around 6.30pm on Thursday, hours after his nemesis Yoweri Museveni was sworn in as president of Uganda in Kampala.
Moroto is 458km south of the capital Kampala. He is in custody at Moroto government prison.
Besigye was brought to court in the evening of Thursday, which was presided over by the acting chief magistrate, Charles Yepeise, amid heavy security deployment.
According to Daily Monitor, Besigye, 60, is said to have appeared in court without his lawyer when the charges were read to him.
However, he was not allowed to take plea because according to Ugandan law treason is a capital offence only triable at the High Court.
According to prosecution, Besigye in various places declared himself as president and having won the February 18 presidential elections.
In a flip ceremony, Besigye was sworn in as the president of Uganda which occasion was thwarted by security agencies allied to the government.
After the February elections, Besigye contested the decision by the electoral commission declaring that his rival won a 60% majority against him. However after wary scrutiny of the issues raised by Besigye, the court in Uganda pronounced Museveni as the duly elected president.
It followed therefore that Museveni be sworn in as president in an event attended by other 10 heads of states in Africa and foreign dignitaries.
Besigye enjoys a wider support base in Kampala, the capital.
