By The legal team representing opposition figure Dr. Kizza Besigye has hailed a court ruling as a “huge blow to the state,” after a magistrate court dismissed an application by prosecutors seeking to access private data belonging to Besigye and co-accused Hajji Obeid Lutale.
Speaking to the media outside court on Thursday, Kampala Lord Mayor and lead defence counsel Erias Lukwago said the magistrate rightly found she no longer had jurisdiction over the matter after committing the accused to the High Court for trial.
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“It’s obvious that once someone has been committed to the High Court for trial, you cannot reopen the case for investigation,” Lukwago said. “The magistrate’s hands were tied. She had no choice but to terminate all proceedings related to Dr. Besigye’s case after the committal on May 29.”
The prosecution had filed an application seeking court orders to obtain communication data from the phones of Dr. Besigye and Hajji Lutale, arguing it was vital to support the state’s case. But Lukwago described the move as legally flawed and procedurally time-barred.
“They were in a dilemma a catch-22 situation,” he said. “The six months permitted for investigations lapsed on May 20, but they had not completed them. Instead of admitting Dr. Besigye to mandatory bail as required by law, they kept him on remand unlawfully.”
Under Uganda’s legal framework, suspects remanded on capital offences are entitled to mandatory bail after 180 days if investigations are incomplete. Lukwago accused the state of manipulating the process to detain Besigye while continuing investigations beyond the legal timeframe.
“They wanted two things: to keep Dr. Besigye on remand while still pursuing investigations after the remand period expired. The law doesn’t allow that. They had to choose: release him and investigate, or commit him and abandon the application,” he said.
The magistrate, in a ruling delivered earlier on Thursday, declared the court “functus officio” a legal term meaning it had completed its duties and therefore lacked authority to entertain further applications in the matter.
“This ruling has far-reaching implications for the state’s case,” Lukwago said. “They can no longer obtain the key evidence they were banking on to substantiate their claims.”
Dr. Besigye and Lutale were earlier committed to the High Court on charges arising from political activities, which their lawyers have described as politically motivated and intended to suppress dissent.
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With the application now dismissed, the state will have to proceed to trial without the contested data, a development Lukwago believes severely weakens the prosecution’s case. The High Court is expected to set a trial date in the coming weeks.
