A Ugandan military tribunal on Monday convicted 16 members of an opposition party for “illegal possession of explosive devices and treachery,” according to a defence lawyer who criticised the legitimacy of the proceedings.
The prosecution alleged that the 16 members of the National Unity Platform, along with others still at large, were found in possession of explosives between November 2020 and May 2021, during the election period.
“The circumstances surrounding their plea of guilty to the charges they had previously denied were questionable,” Shamim Malende, a defence lawyer, told AFP.
Former singer and opposition leader Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, claimed that the group had been coerced into pleading guilty and seeking a presidential pardon.
Journalists were barred from attending the session.
The 16 individuals, who have already spent four years in prison, will return to court on Wednesday for sentencing.
Uganda has been under the rule of Yoweri Museveni since 1986.
The last presidential election in 2021 was marred by allegations of fraud, and protests against the repeated arrest of Bobi Wine were violently suppressed by police, resulting in at least 54 deaths.
“Whatever Museveni’s government is doing, one day all those under him, including himself, will be called to account,” Bobi Wine told AFP, stating that the accused had been “blackmailed by state agents.”
AFP
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