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The next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting will take place in Uganda, secretary-general Don McKinnon yesterday said, amid great criticism of the Ugandan government’s stoppage of all radio talk shows from discussing the arrest of opposition leader Kizza Besigye.
McKinnon yesterday said he was sure President Yoweri Museveni and the people around him “are aware people are talking about this issue”, saying he was sure there would be a determination to see the issue resolved as soon as possible.
“This is an independent sovereign state with an independent judiciary and we’re confident the process will continue,” he said on the treason and rape charges which Besigye faces in court.
President Museveni has been in power since 1986 but there has been controversy about constitutional changes allowing him to run for a third term.
Ugandan authorities have now banned public demonstrations in support of Besigye, leader of the opposition Forum for Democratic Change. The government also stopped all radio talk show programmes from discussing the Besigye case, saying the matter was before the courts of law.
Interior Minister Ruhakana Rugunda said demonstrations were likely to compromise Besigye’s right to a fair trial.
Besigye is seen as President Yoweri Museveni’s main challenger in presidential elections scheduled for March 2006. He was arrested on 14 November and charged with planning to overthrow the government. Besigye is also accused of committing rape in 1997.
His arrest sparked street riots in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, in which at least two people died and dozens were arrested.
Besigye was Museveni’s personal doctor during the guerrilla war that ousted Milton Obote and brought Museveni into power in 1986. He lost to Museveni in the 2001 presidential elections and fled Uganda soon after the polls, alleging that his life was in danger.
Human Rights Watch urged the government to reverse the ban on speech and demonstrations linked to Besigye’s trial, calling for an end to the “intimidation of the courts”.
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