The wife of jailed Ugandan opposition politician Kizza Besigye has slammed as “barbaric and barbaric” the ban on prisoners receiving visitors on Christmas Day.
Besigye, 68, has been charged with possessing firearms and attempting to buy weapons overseas, which he denies. His case has been postponed to next month.
Prison authorities say that as part of measures to prevent a “security lapse”, inmates will not be allowed visitors for seven days, starting on Christmas Eve.
Besigye’s wife, Winnie Byanyima, the head of the UN’s AIDS and HIV program, said she plans to stop outside Luzira prison to see her husband and give her food on Christmas day.
She told the BBC that her husband remains “strong and persistent” in a “small cell” behind six prison gates, but she is worried he could be “hurt”.
“I did not leave Besigye’s food at the gate [as directed]. I will go there to see my husband because I don’t trust them even for a day,” said Ms. Byanyima.
“Maybe I’ll take a tent and sleep there… if that’s what they want,” he added.
Besigye has run for president four times defeating President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986.
But the veteran opposition politician has been relatively inactive in politics in recent years, and did not run for the 2021 election.
However, Besigye returned to the limelight last month after he was mysteriously kidnapped while visiting Kenya and forcibly taken to Uganda.
He was then charged along with an assistant, Obeid Lutale. He also denied the charges.
A military court extended Besigye’s detention until January 7, dashing his family’s hopes that he would be home by Christmas.
Uganda Prisons Services spokesperson, Frank Baine Mayanja, told the media that the seven-day visitor ban was aimed at strengthening security during the Christmas holidays, and preventing escapes.
“Christmas creates excitement and most of the prisoners do not want to have Christmas inside. They have to plan how they will relax in prison and then go outside,” Mr. Mayanja told NTV Uganda.
The Prison Service initially announced a ban on visits to the prison for about a month, but then reduced the ban to seven days.
Ms Byanyima told the BBC that she was also worried about the change in leadership that had recently taken place at Luzira prison, asking why a “young and inexperienced” officer was put in charge.
“It’s very suspicious and makes me question their intentions,” he said.
“I don’t trust his [Besigye’s] life with those who kidnapped him. I will try to see him as often as possible,” Ms Byanyima added.
Mr Mayanja said the leadership changes were “an administrative issue” and had nothing to do with Besigye.
She went on to say that Ms. Byanyima must trust the authorities to take care of her husband because “we have ways and means to keep him alive.”
“I think we should stop doing our job,” said Mr. Mayanja.
This is the second time that Besigye, who has fought Museveni’s government for the past two decades, has spent the Christmas holidays in prison.
In 2005, he was arrested while returning from a political rally before the 2006 presidential election and charged with treason. The charges were dropped by the courts.
He was also charged with rape in another case. The charges were later dropped. He said all these allegations are part of a campaign to persecute people politically
In the latest case, Besigye objected to the case being heard by a military court, saying that he should be tried in a civilian court if there is a case against him.
Museveni defended the use of military courts when trying people.
He said that any case involving a firearm is handled in a military court so that the country can be stable as civilian courts take a long time to deal with cases.
Hundreds of civilians have been tried in Ugandan military courts, although the Constitutional Court has ruled against this practice.
The opposition parties have always complained about the ban on politics, saying that Museveni is afraid of political competition.
Museveni’s supporters deny these accusations, saying that he maintained stability during his almost 40 years in power.
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