Ugandan police have arrested a major opposition leader and charged him with treason, saying for the first time they suspect him of links to the notorious rebel Lord’s Resistance Army.
The arrest on Monday touched off protests that police put down with tear gas, rubber bullets and a water cannon.
Kizza Besigye, who was greeted by huge crowds when he returned from exile last month and has mounted the strongest challenge to President Yoweri Museveni’s 19-year rule, was charged at a magistrate’s court with treason, concealment of treason and the 1997 rape of a woman, police spokesperson Asumani Mugenyi said.
If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
Besigye did not enter a plea because magistrate’s courts have no authority to try capital cases. The retired colonel is expected to enter a plea on Tuesday when he appears before the high court.
Magistrate Margaret Tiburya ordered that he be held in custody at the Luzira maximum-security prison.
Besigye, once a close Museveni ally, and 22 others ”are accused of plotting to overthrow the government of Uganda by force of arms”. He is accused of recruiting, mobilising arms and other logistical support as well as gathering intelligence to fight the government, said Major General Kale Kaihura, the police inspector general.
The charges stem from evidence obtained from rebels captured in the lawless eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and in neighbouring western Uganda, said Kaihura, a trusted, long-time military aide to Museveni.
Former Lord’s Resistance Army commanders, who have since abandoned a separate rebellion in northern Uganda, have provided credible evidence of links between Besigye’s political party and the notorious insurgents, Kaihura told journalists.
Besigye’s October 26 return from exile in South Africa ”made it possible to proceed with the prosecution. His public statement justifying violence and refusing to renounce armed rebellion confirmed the suspicion that he was actively involved in acts of war against Uganda,” Kaihura said.
Police fired tear gas and used a water cannon to disperse angry supporters as heavily armed officers transferred Besigye from the outskirts of the capital to the central police station.
”Museveni is a dictator! It is time for Museveni to go!” opposition supporters shouted near the police station. Others torched vehicles and roadside kiosks, looted from businesses and burnt tires on the streets.
Some businesses in central Kampala closed down amid fears of escalating violence.
Besigye has denied past accusations from the government that he led the People’s Redemption Army, described as a group of armed Ugandan dissidents based in the east of the neighbouring DRC.
Government charges that Besigye has links with the Lord’s Resistance Army are new.
The cult-like Lord’s Resistance Army is notorious for kidnapping children and using them as soldiers or concubines. It is made up of the remnants of a northern insurgency that began after Museveni — who, like Besigye, is a southerner — first took power.
The rebels have declared they want to replace Museveni’s government with one guided by the biblical Ten Commandants. — Sapa-AP