Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court has remanded 36 supporters of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) on allegations of terrorism.
The three dozen were arrested in Kenya and handed over to Ugandan authorities by Kenyan security last week. The group is alleged to have been engaged in covert activities suspected to be subversive to Kenyan security forces.
The prosecution alleges that on the 22nd and 23rd of July 2024, the 36 traveled to Kisumu, Kenya, to receive terrorism training. They have been remanded till August 13, 2024.
According to Dr. Kizza Besigye, on July 23rd, 36 of our (FDC) colleagues traveled to Kisumu for a week-long leadership workshop. They were allegedly cleared by Ugandan immigration and security.
He said a few hours later (during the night), their residences at Ukweri Catholic Pastoral Centre, Kisumu, were violently attacked, doors broken, and all brutally arrested. This was by a combination of Ugandan security officers and the Kenyan military.
Their properties were confiscated, including computers and phones. They were tortured and several were injured during and after arrest. They were driven that night back to Uganda—this time without going through Kenyan or Ugandan immigration.
“They were detained in “safe houses” of Uganda’s External Security Organisation (ESO) until they were brought to Kololo grounds to be paraded before the media as having been handed over by the Kenyan government for engaging in suspicious circumstances,” he said.
The group has since been detained at Naggalama Police Station, in Mukono District. “They were lawfully invited into Kenya and entered Kenya lawfully. The place where they were to hold their workshop was lawfully engaged. They were illegally arrested and illegally deported, apart from the torture and other human rights violations done by government forces of both Uganda and Kenya,” he said.
