Ugandan opposition head cleared
2006-03-07 11:40
Kampala - A Ugandan high court on Tuesday acquitted opposition leader Kizza Besigye on rape charges, saying the prosecution had failed to prove its case.
Nearly two weeks since Besigye lost presidential elections to his main challenger to President Yoweri Museveni, high court Judge John Bosco Katutsi said prosecutors had not proved the defendant was guilty of the alleged 1997 assault.
"I find that the prosecution failed to prove their case. I hearby acquit the accused," he said in a ruling.
"The evidence before this court is inadequate and no court or judge with a sound mind can convict a person on such evidence," Katutsi said.
Earlier this month, assessors who were monitoring the rape trial recommended that the presiding judge acquit Besigye, who refused to put up a defence.
Charges politically-motivated
Under Ugandan law, assessors function like jurors but their advice is not binding on the judge, who may accept or disregard their findings.
In addition to the rape charge, of which he has now been acquitted, Besigye along with 22 co-defendants, face another trial on treason charges that is set to resume on March 15.
But Besigye, Museveni's former personal physician and one-time political ally, has consistently denied all the charges and maintains they were politically-motivated attempts to either prevent him from running or hinder his ability to campaign for the February 23 elections.
Museveni won re-election with nearly 60% of the vote in Uganda's first multi-party polls since 1980, extending his 20-year hold on power, while Besigye, took 37% of the vote.
His prosecution raised serious concerns about the state of democracy in Uganda and tarnished the once-sterling credentials of Museveni, who came to power in a 1986 coup but has been elected for a third term.
The Besigye trials as well as Museveni's repeal last year of term limits that would have barred him from standing again have alarmed donors, some of whom have suspended tens of millions of dollars in direct aid to the government.
The treason charges against Besigye relate to allegations he and the other accused colluded with rebel groups to foment a coup after elections in 2001 in which he lost to Museveni.
Besigye fled the country shortly after those accusations surfaced and returned to Uganda only in October last year, vowing to fight Museveni's "dictatorship," but was arrested in mid-November.