The wife of detained Ugandan opposition politician Kizza Besigye has condemned a ban on prisoners receiving visitors at Christmas as “cruel and inhumane”.
Besigye, 68, was charged at a military court with possessing a pistol and trying to buy weapons abroad, which he denies. His trial was postponed until next month.
Prison authorities said inmates will not be allowed to visit for seven days from Christmas Eve as part of measures to prevent “potential security breaches”.
Besigye’s wife, Winnie Byanyima, who heads the United Nations response to HIV and AIDS, said she planned to camp outside Luzira prison so she could see her husband on Christmas Day and give him food.
She told the BBC her husband remained “strong and persistent” in a “small room” behind six prison doors but she feared he might “come to harm”.
“I won’t leave Besigye’s food at the door [as directed]. I would go there to see my husband because I don’t trust them for a day.
“Maybe I’ll bring a tent to sleep in there…if that’s what they want,” she added.
Besigye contested four presidential elections but lost each time to President Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986.
But the veteran opposition politician has been less politically active in recent years and is not running in the 2021 elections.
However, Besigye hit the headlines again last month after he was dramatically abducted while visiting Kenya and forcibly taken to Uganda.
He was subsequently charged along with an aide, Obeid Lutale. He also denied the accusations.
A military court extended Besigye’s detention until January 7, dashing his family’s hopes of returning home for Christmas.
Frank Baine Mayanja, spokesman for the Uganda Prison Service, told local media that the seven-day visitor ban was aimed at increasing security during the festival and preventing prison escapes.
“There is excitement about Christmas and most of the prisoners don’t want to spend Christmas inside. They must be planning how to escape and get out,” Mr Mayanja told NTV Uganda.
The Bureau of Prisons initially announced a ban on prison visits for nearly a month, but later shortened the ban to seven days.
Ms Byanyima told the BBC she was also concerned about recent leadership changes at Luzira Prison, questioning why a “young and inexperienced” officer was put in charge of the prison.
“It was very suspicious and made me question their intentions,” she said.
“I don’t believe his [Besigye’s] Living with his captors. I will see him as often as possible,” Ms Byanyima added.
Mayanja says leadership change is an “administrative matter” and has nothing to do with Besigye.
He added that Ms Byanyima should trust the authorities to take care of her husband because “we have the means and mechanisms to keep him alive”.
“I think she should let us do our job,” Mr Mayanja said.
Besigye, who has been at loggerheads with Museveni’s government for the past two decades, spent the Christmas holidays in prison for the second time.
In 2005, he was arrested while returning from a political rally ahead of the 2006 presidential election and charged with treason. The charges were dismissed by the courts.
He was also charged with rape in a separate case. Those charges were later dropped. He said all the accusations were part of a political witch hunt.
In the latest case, Besigye objected to being tried by a military court, saying if there were any cases against him, he should be tried in civilian courts.
Museveni has defended the use of military tribunals to try civilians.
He said any crimes involving firearms were handled by military courts to ensure the country’s stability because civilian courts were taking too long to process cases.
Hundreds of civilians are being tried in Uganda’s military courts despite a Constitutional Court ruling against the practice.
Opposition parties have often complained about restrictions on political activity, claiming Museveni is worried about political competition.
Museveni’s supporters deny the accusation and say Museveni has remained stable during his nearly 40-year rule.
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