Human rights activists in Kenya are launching nationwide demonstrations this Thursday to protest the alleged illegal cross-border rendition and ongoing 22-month military detention of veteran Ugandan opposition leader Dr Kizza Besigye.
The protests follow alarming reports that Besigye’s health is critically deteriorating after four hospitalisations while in custody. Protesters are gathering at Aga Khan Walk in Nairobi’s central business district before marching toward the National Assembly, targeting the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior, with secondary demonstrations planned at the Ugandan High Commission in Kileleshwa.
Demonstrators are demanding Besigye’s immediate release, urgent medical evacuation, state reparations, and an independent judicial inquiry into the circumstances surrounding his detention.
Highlighting the broader regional judicial crisis, Pan African Solidarity Network Co-ordinator Mwanase Ahmed warned that over 2 000 political prisoners remain held without trial in Uganda. Ahmed condemned the trial of civilians in military courts as a dangerous precedent resulting from executive capture of the judiciary, urging the Kenyan government to intervene directly.
–ChannelAfrica–
