Kizza Besigye: charged for organising demonstrations

Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye and four senior politicians were charged Monday with inciting violence in a demonstration two years ago, their lawyer said.

The opposition chief, who previously led a series of protests against the high cost of living in Uganda, denied the charge and was freed on bail.

“We have been in court, Besigye and others have been charged,” lawyer Wilfred Mulumba told AFP from the southwestern town of Kabale, close to the border with Rwanda.

Besigye, a former president of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), has been repeatedly blocked from holding rallies in public to challenge veteran President Yoweri Museveni, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders.

The other accused are the mayor of the capital Kampala, Erias Lukwago, as well as FDC women’s league leader Ingrid Turinawe, MP Roland Mugume Kaginda and senior party member Mubarak Munyagwa.

The charges date back to a rally in Kabale in July 2012, when Besigye and the co-accused are alleged to have told supporters to disobey police orders to disperse. Some people reportedly hurled rocks at police.

“They deny the charges, and we have asked court to dismiss the case,” Mulumba said.

The case will be heard in court again on December 5.

Besigye, a three-time presidential election challenger and a former personal doctor to Museveni, has been charged several times before with crimes including inciting violence, treason and rape, but he was never convicted.