Justice Wilson Masalu Musene was the judge designated to hear Dr Kizza Besigye’s bail application to determine his fate of whether to be temporarily released on bail or not when he faced treason charges in 2016.
Shortly after the contested 2016 presidential polls, Dr Kizza Besigye, the runner up, was rounded up and charged with treason.
The treason charges against the four-time presidential candidate arose after a video clip made rounds on social media, showing him allegedly swearing-in himself as the next president of Uganda at an undisclosed location.
The alleged swearing-in happened on May 11, 2016, which happened to be the eve of President Museveni’s swearing-in for the fifth elective term in office.
Dr Besigye was first charged with treason in Moroto District before he was transferred to Nakawa Court in Kampala and charged afresh.
After spending close to two months on remand at Luzira prison, the former president of the Opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) party applied to be released on bail.
Justice Wilson Masalu Musene was the judge designated to hear Dr Besigye’s bail application.
Stakes were high given that Dr Besigye was the main Opposition challenger at the time and any judicial official to handle his bail application was in the limelight.
The prosecution led by Ms Florence Akello had vehemently opposed the release of Dr Besigye on bail, arguing that he had not provided court with enough documented evidence such as his birth certificate.
But Justice Musene overruled the objection by the prosecution on grounds that the state had not tabled evidence to disprove that Besigye wasn’t 60 years.
Justice Musene also overruled another ground in which the prosecution had accused Dr Besigye of carrying out defiance campaign at the time and that he shouldn’t be released on bail.
