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Chaos broke out at General Court Martial in Makindye as Col Dr Kizza Besigye and his co-accused Obeid Lutale Kamulegeya returned for the hearing of their case.
The court session was briefly interrupted as officers arrested one of the suspects’ lawyers, Eron Kiiza on grounds of misconduct.
Kiiza, one of the senior members of the defence team was grabbed and placed in the dock before being dragged out of the courtroom.
The arrest was described by Martha Karua, the lead defence attorney as brutal and concerning.
She noted that Kiiza was merely attempting to access the front seats with the rest of the defence team.
“It looks like there was an intention to assault him,” she said.
Hours earlier, Kiiza was blocked from entering the court along with several other defence lawyers.
“All he wanted was to come and sit here with the rest of the team. He should not be stopped from approaching the court. There is something wrong taking place,” she said.
Karua, who just got her practising licence hours earlier, noted that she herself was made to wait two hours outside the court and later forced to sit at the back of the court.
She wondered why the military court security was behaving with such disregard for the law.
Consulting with suspects
Karua and her team asked for and were later granted a 14 minute break to consult with their clients on how to proceed in the absence of a key member of the defence team.
“Your fault”
The Military Court Chairman Robert Freeman Mugabe blamed the arrest of Counsel Kiiza on his conduct and that of some of his colleagues.
“The harassment of lawyers you are talking about is caused partly by your people,” he responded.
Mugabe promised to handle Kiiza’s situation after today’s court session.
He also promised to give instructions to the court security on how to conduct themselves.