The High Court in Kampala on Thursday postponed plea-taking in the treason case against veteran opposition politician Col (Rtd) Dr Kizza Besigye, his aide Hajj Obeid Lutale and UPDF captain Dennis Oola, after the defence revealed they had filed a constitutional petition and a related application seeking to stay the criminal proceedings.
The four-time presidential contender’s lawyers told the court presided over by Justice Emmanuel Baguma on Thursday that they had filed a constitutional petition together with the stay application. They argued that taking a plea, as the state had submitted before the stay application was resolved, would prejudice their clients.
In his ruling, Justice Baguma said he had carefully listened to both parties and confirmed that the application was received on the electronic filing system on December 3 at 7:36 pm and allocated a file number that morning.
‘It is therefore true that the application is not yet fixed. Although the session had been set for plea-taking, the interests of justice required that the stay application be handled first. For the interest of justice, it is my view that the application is disposed of first,’ he ruled.
He ordered that the prosecution be served immediately.
‘Prosecution served today and file and serve response by 11th,’ he directed, adding that any rejoinder by the defence must be filed by December 18.
He fixed December 22, 2025, as the date for arguing the application for stay of the proceedings and set the same day for mention of the main treason case.
The application in question seeks two orders: that the hearing of the treason case be stayed pending the outcome of the Constitutional Petition challenging that is seeking interpretation on whether a judge facing a complaint before the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) can fairly preside over a case involving the same complainant, and that the applicants be released on bail.
The grounds include the pending constitutional petition challenging acts said to affect their right to a fair hearing, the applicants’ extended stay on remand, their presumption of innocence, and their eligibility for bail.
Prosecution led by the Assistant Director of Public Prosecution, Mr Thomas Jatiko, informed the court that the matter had been fixed for plea-taking and scheduling, and the prosecution was ready to proceed.
However, defence lawyer Ernest Kalibbala said the accused had filed a Constitutional Petition raising issues of recusal, referral and the continuation of the criminal trial. He said the petition’s declarations would directly affect the High Court proceedings.
Mr Kalibbala added that the defence had also filed Criminal Application No. 814 of 2025 seeking an order staying the trial pending disposal of the petition. He informed court that the State had not yet been served, but service would be completed during the day.
Mr Jatiko responded that the prosecution had no knowledge of the application and had prepared for plea-taking.
‘We were last in court on November 6. It is almost a month now. We were prepared for plea-taking,’ he said. He asked the court to direct the defence to serve the State first and to allow the prosecution adequate time to file a response.
Mr Kalibbala said taking a plea was part of the hearing process and any pending questions regarding a fair hearing affected all stages, including plea-taking.
‘We pray that the application is fixed and disposed of first,’ he said, proposing a hearing within the following week. He argued that the one month suggested by the prosecution was too long.