Court has jurisdiction to try Besigye- state Clarifies

The chief state attorney from the office of the DPP, Richard Birivumbuka has told Rtd col. Dr. Kiiza Besigye and his two co-accused persons that, the High court has jurisdiction to try the treason case against them.

This followed the concerns , raised by Besigye that he’s being wrongly tried in the High court, Since in May 2025 was committed by the Nakawa Magistrates court to the International Crimes Division (ICD) of the High court.

Besigye and his legal team emphasized that, given the nature of the offences against the accused persons, it’s a cross border crime which falls under category of the matters to be heard by the ICD.

In response to the above submissions, Birivumbuka revealed that High court has unlimited jurisdiction to hear any matter, secondly , that the immediate case doesn’t fall under the category of cases to be handled by the ICD.

He also observed, that it was an error for the Nakawa magistrates court to commit the accused persons in the ICD, and that as DPP, they’re are only waiting for an opportune moment to make amendments in the indictment.

Besigye and his aidee Obeid Lutale and a UPDF soldier capt Denis Olaa have been on remand since November last year on charges of treason they allegedly committed in countries of Kenya Greece and Switzerland between 2023 and November last year.