KAMPALA: Detained Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye is to stand trial on Monday before the country's High Court as a hearing of rape charges against him kicks off after pleading not guilty to the accusations last month.
Besigye, alongside 22 co-defendants, has also pleaded not guilty to treason charges whose hearings are set to begin on January 6.
The trial date was set on December 19 after High Court Judge John Bosco Katutsi granted a request from defense lawyers to delay it pending a ruling from the country's Constitutional Court on whether Besigye, a civilian, can be court martialled.
Besigye, President Yoweri Museveni's main rival in February elections, has denied the charges that he claims are political and sought to halt a military tribunal from trying him on separate terrorism and weapons counts.
Although he has been cleared to stand for presidential election on his Forum for Democratic Change party's ticket in the February 23 polls, the charges may nullify his candidacy as he faces the death penalty if convicted of the terrorism charges. Besigye fled Uganda after losing 2001 polls to Museveni, who later accused him of trying to foment a coup.
He returned home from four years of self-imposed exile in South Africa on October 26, vowing to fight Museveni's "dictatorship," but was detained three weeks later, sparking deadly riots in the capital.
However, Museveni has come under pressure from Uganda's lenders which have withheld millions over dollars of direct budgetary support to the government due democracy concerns.
Last week, the government said it would borrow at least 73 million dollars (62 million euros) from the central bank to plug the deficit occasioned by the foreign donors' cuts.
