The IAPL Monitoring Committee on Attacks on Lawyers reported on July 10 on the continued detention of Erias Lukwago, a prominent lawyer, human rights defender, and opposition figure arrested on June 15 by armed security operatives while acting as legal counsel for opposition leader Kizza Besigye. Lukwago was charged with “misprision of treason,” an offense punishable by life imprisonment, and on July 7 a court rejected his bail application filed on health grounds, leaving him in detention. Bar associations and lawyers’ organizations internationally, and the Uganda Law Society through a nationwide strike, have condemned the arrest as part of an emerging pattern of intimidation and judicial harassment against lawyers who represent government opponents. The case highlights the targeting of defense counsel as a tactic of political repression.

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