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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The High Court in Kampala has granted a request by lawyer Eron Kiiza to retrieve his passport to enable him to travel abroad for medical treatment. Criminal Division Judge David Matovu on Wednesday ruled in favour of Kiiza, stating that he is not a flight risk.
The judge noted that Kiiza had previously travelled to Kenya using a temporary travel document and voluntarily returned to Uganda, demonstrating compliance with court processes. Justice Matovu emphasized that the initial directive by Justice Michael Elubu requiring Kiiza to deposit his passport with the court as a condition of bail was not punitive.
“In the final analysis, the court finds that the order to deposit the applicant’s passport with the court was not punitive in nature, and that is why the learned Judge provided for the release of the same whenever the applicant intended to travel,” ruled Justice Matovu.
He added that the other bail conditions imposed by Justice Elubu — including cash bail and sureties — were sufficient to guarantee Kiiza’s return to face his appeal proceedings. The court has now directed that upon return from his unspecified duration of treatment, Kiiza must redeposit his passport with the High Court.
When asked about the medical facility he would be visiting, Kiiza said the information was private. Last month, Kiiza filed a formal petition before the High Court seeking the release of his passport, which had been retained following his release from Kitalya Prison, where he spent nearly three months on the orders of the now-defunct General Court Martial.
Kiiza was convicted of contempt of court by the military tribunal on January 7, 2025, and sentenced to nine months in prison. However, he appealed the conviction and was later granted bail by Justice Elubu, who imposed a cash bail of 20 million shillings, required non-cash sureties of 50 million shillings, and directed him to surrender his passport.
In his plea before Justice Matovu, Kiiza said he was tortured and illegally detained following his arrest on January 7, 2025, while representing jailed opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye and Hajji Obeid Lutaale. At the time, the duo was facing charges of illegal possession of military weapons and ammunition. According to court records, as Kiiza approached the General Court Martial to represent his clients, he was blocked and arrested by military police officers while in the line of duty as a legal practitioner.
He further told the court that he was held for 86 days at Kitalya Prison before his release on April 4, 2025. On April 24 and May 7, he wrote to the court requesting the return of his passport to enable travel for medical treatment, rest, and recovery, as recommended by his doctors. Kiiza argued that the delay in retrieving his passport had worsened his trauma and disrupted his recovery plan.
He also disclosed that he risks missing an important medical-related trip to Costa Rica in early July 2025, which he described as part of his healing process. Meanwhile, Dr. Besigye and Hajji Lutaale remain in custody, now facing treason charges in the civilian courts following a Supreme Court ruling that barred the trial of civilians before military tribunals.
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