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Olivia Lutaaya, 18 other NUP political prisoners released after ‘guilty plea’
Free? Olivia while still in the Dock at the court martial
Nineteen supporters of the Opposition National Unity Platform (NUP) who have been held by the military were this week released after they pleaded guilty to possessing explosives and denouncing support for NUP President Roobert Kyagulanyi.
The 19 included the famous Olivia Lutaaya whose detention without trial had attracted considerable attention including from some international figures.
Their release was brokered by the Minister for Youth Balaam Barugahare.
But NUP President Kyagulanyi denounced the deal in which they denounced him, as coersion.
Kyagulanyi said: “I have learned that 19 of the original 32 political prisoners on the #OliviaLutaaya file have succumbed to regime coercion and pleaded guilty to crimes they did not commit after enduring nearly four years of detention without trial. It has also come to light that Mr. Museveni’s minister, Balaam, visited these political prisoners on Saturday —a non-visitation day— and pressured them to plead guilty and seek Museveni’s forgiveness or else they would never leave prison.”
Kyagulanyi added: “It is worth noting that, while we have been routinely blocked from visiting these comrades, regime operatives have had unrestricted access to them during which they have held long, recorded conversations and exercised undue influence over them. Even the few times we have met them have always been brief and conducted in the presence of security operatives and prison warders who insisted on listening to every word of our conversation.
Kyagulanyi noted that given the circumstances, the NUP supporters need not be vilified.
“This blatant abuse of rights and misuse of power must make us all to put today’s events in their proper context and therefore understand instead of judging these comrades. They have spent nearly 4 years in jail without trial, and without any evidence being presented against them. By the time the comrades were forced to drop our legal team which had represented them since 2021, the lawyers had taken every step in the book to secure their freedom but without success. The regime always made it clear that this was not a legal case but a political one. They were forced to abandon their lawyers and adopt UPDF lawyers! “
According to Kyagulanyi, nine other prisoners have maintained their innocence and have not been released. He praised them, saying:
“While we understand the frustration and desperation of those who have pleaded guilty, I salute their 9 other fellow prisoners of conscience who continue to demand a fair trial or their freedom. The day of justice is near. WE SHALL OVERCOME!”
The capitulation of Lutaaya and her colleagues has attracted mostly sympathy from the public many of whom argued that they had not choice in the face of an unshameful regime.
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