Why Judge has ordered Kizza Besigye be returned to prison

A Ugandan Judge has directed that sick opposition politician Kizza Besigye is return to Prison.

According to Judge Douglas Singiza, he cannot continue with the case when the concerned prisoner is sick.

He however, directed that Besigye’s lawyers stay and proceed with the Habeas Corpus plea.

“This is an administrative order. If a prisoner is sick, I can’t continue with him. He might faint… Prison authorities take back Kizza Besigye we continue with the lawyers,” Judge Singiza ordered.

The directive followed Besigye’s appearance at the High Court, Civil Division, alongside his aide Obeid Lutale.

The Opposition politician has been on a hunger strike over the last one week in protest of his detention.

Besigye was arrested on November 16, 2024, in Nairobi, where he was to attend Martha Karua’s book launch.

Four days later on November 20, Besigye and Hajj Lutale appeared before a military court in Kampala, under the charges of possession of an illegal firearm.

They pleaded not guilty and were remanded at Luzira Maximum Security Prison.

In January 2025, the military court ruled that Besigye could be tried for treachery

On January 31, 2025, the Supreme Court of Uganda ruled that the trial of civilians in military courts was unconstitutional.

On February 11, Besigye began a hunger strike and was hospitalized a few days later and then discharged and taken back to prison.

According to his wife, who visited him in Prison, Besigye was being detained in a prison where only terrorists are kept.

“I visited Kizza Besigye in his prison cell today. He was lying on a small bed that occupies the whole length of the room. A pile of old newspapers and 2 old cardboard boxes next to his bed left room for one stool to sit on.

“There were about six or seven locked doors that I went through before getting to his room, which is along a dark and narrow corridor. Someone told me that this is the special prison for suspected terrorists. It was very painful to find Kizza Besigye in such humiliating circumstances,” Winnie Byanyima said on social media.

She went on to say that Besigye was weak, dizzy and had lost a lot of weight.

Winnie added that it was painful to see her husband in such a humiliating state.

“Besigye is weak, has lost alarming weight, and is dizzy—he hasn’t eaten in 5 days. This is not just illegal detention, it is kidnapping. I am outraged and demand that (President) Kaguta Museveni and his son, the army chief, release him immediately. He is a citizen with rights—just like them!” she said.