Uganda: High Court of Justice orders immediate release of opponent Bobi Wine

Ugandan opponent Bobi Wine at a press conference in Kampala the day after the presidential election, January 15, 2021. Sumy SADRUNI / AFP

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2 min

The opponent has in fact been locked up in his Kampala residence since the presidential election on January 14.

Soldiers surround his home.

Bobi Wine, who challenged President Museveni in this election and who also rejects his re-election, should theoretically be able to regain his freedom of movement during the day.

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Hundreds of soldiers and police camped outside his house will begin to leave the area on Monday, police spokesman Fred Enanga confirmed.

The only downside is that Bobi Wine will be kept under surveillance, because

the opposition leader

is still suspected of wanting to mobilize his supporters against the government to contest the presidential results.

This is the reason given by the police to justify his “ 

preventive detention

 ”.

But, the High Court of Justice rejected this argument, ruling that the detention of Bobi Wine was " 

illegal

 "

However, Bobi Wine's lawyers are not entirely satisfied

after this decision

.

They fear other even more restrictive measures, as Master Benjamin Katana explains: “ 

We have received information according to which the authorities plan to have Bobi Wine arrested immediately after his release and to accuse him of other offenses and of him. remand in custody.

The goal is to put it out of circulation for a while.

 "

It should be remembered that there is not much time left for Bobi Wine to file his appeal after the presidential results before the Supreme Court.

The deadline is set for this Friday.

In addition, his party, The Platform for National Unity, is having difficulty gathering evidence of electoral fraud.

According to Wine's lawyer, the party's premises were surrounded by police, several election observers were arrested and the records confiscated.

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