Uganda: Besigye Arrest - Opposition to Petition UN Aviation Body

Abubaker Lubowa/Daily Monitor
Supporters of former FDC presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye at party headquarters in Najjanankumbi.
5 October 2016
The Monitor (Kampala)
By Solomon Arinaitwe

Parliament — The Opposition have said they will petition the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICOA) to investigate breach of aviation security during the arrest of former presidential candidate, Dr Kizza Besigye, who was plucked out of a Kenya Airways aircraft.

Dr Besigye was on Monday morning bundled out of KQ Flight 410 by security operatives, who claimed to have intelligence that he was bent on causing chaos on Entebbe Road as his supporters lined the streets to welcome him from a six-week overseas trip.

Dr Besigye said he was "kidnapped by goons" working with the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), who bundled him into a waiting CAA vehicle and delivered him to a police car that speedily whisked him off to his Kasangati home in Wakiso District, forcing him to abandon a planned press briefing at his party headquarters in Najjanakumbi.

Police insist Dr Besigye was picked from the Arrival Lounge exit and not the aircraft.

Opposition take

Yesterday, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, Ms Winnie Kiiza, announced that the Opposition will lodge a complaint with ICAO, the UN body that brings together aviation agencies and is charged with ensuring air safety.

She said the complaint will demand that Uganda's CAA reveals which security agency commanded the arrest of Dr Besigye, the crime he had committed and his travel status given that he was not allowed to proceed through the proper immigration procedures to have his passport stamped to indicate that he had returned to the country after leaving in August.

Shadow Defence minister Muwanga Kivumbi (Butambala County) claimed at the press briefing at Parliament that the operation to arrest Dr Besigye was commanded by soldiers attached to the Special Forces Command (SFC), an elite force commanded by Maj Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

"The arrest was done by SFC soldiers disguised as CAA officials. SFC is not part of the law and order agencies in this country. We have been demanding to know what the limits of the SFC outfit are but we are not getting answers, "Mr Kivumbi said.

Maj Chris Magezi, the SFC spokesman, yesterday challenged the Opposition to name the SFC soldiers who they claim were involved in the operation if any investigation is to be conducted, insisting that Dr Besigye was solely arrested by police

"This is not the first time that Dr Besigye is being arrested. What made yesterday's arrest so special that the police would not execute it for SFC to be involved. The SFC is not involved in civil matters. Airport security is under police through the Counter-Terrorism Police," Maj Magezi said.

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