Hope for Besigye as Uganda's Supreme Court says military can't try civilians

Uganda's Supreme Court ruled Friday that it was unconstitutional for civilians to be tried in military courts, raising hopes that the treason trial of ex-presidential candidate Kizza Besigye may be stopped.

Besigye was once President Yoweri Museveni's trusted personal physician but has become a government target since joining the opposition 25 years ago and unsuccessfully running for president four times.

He was abducted in November and has been facing the death penalty on treason charges in a court martial that his wife, UNAIDS chief Winnie Byanyima, has called a "sham".

In the capital Kampala on Friday, chief justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo announced the Supreme Court had ruled that "all ongoing trials involving civilians in the court martial must immediately cease and be transferred to ordinary courts".

Erias Lukwago, a lawyer representing Besigye, welcomed the end of "impunity" for military courts.

"The ruling today sets Dr Besigye and all others who have been jailed by the military courts free," he told AFP.

Because the Supreme Court is the country's top judicial body, "we don't expect another appeal -- except if the government wants to overthrow the constitution".

The chief justice said the military courts could not be "impartial" when trying civilians because they ultimately answered to the military.

Besigye was snatched while on a trip to Kenya to attend a book launch.

When his trial resumed earlier this month, one of Besigye's lawyers was sent to prison for nine months.

Museveni's son Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who is head of the armed forces and tipped as his father's possible successor, has said he hoped Besigye would be "hanged" because the veteran opposition leader "used to call me a clown and a coward".

The United Nations and several rights organisations have voiced their concern about the suppression of the opposition in Uganda in the run-up to presidential elections set for January 2026.