Uganda president denounces court ruling on trial of opposition leader News
Uganda president denounces court ruling on trial of opposition leader

[JURIST] Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni [BBC profile] on Monday criticized a Constitutional Court ruling [JURIST report] that halted the court-martial of opposition leader Kizza Besigye [BBC profile] on charges of possessing illegal firearms. Museveni vowed to fight the court ruling politically, even suggesting that a referendum may be used. The government has appealed the ruling to the country's supreme court. The Constitutional Court [official website] ruled that Besigye could not be tried simultaneously in both civilian and military courts on the same charges.

Meanwhile, top judges in Uganda [JURIST news archive] said Tuesday that threats to the judiciary and complex cases like Besigye's would not undermine the independence of the judicial branch. Principal Judge James Ogoola complimented the judges' handling of the Besigye case and said the judiciary would remain independent [Daily Monitor report] despite threats that followed the constitutional court ruling. Xinhuanet has more. From Uganda, the New Vision has local coverage.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Ku Klux Klan founded

The US hate group known as the Ku Klux Klan was founded on December 24, 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee as a reaction to reconstruction efforts following the Union victory in the American Civil War. The group would later become notorious for its attacks on Black Americans, being targeted by the Enforcement Act of 1871, which imposed civil and criminal liability for deprivation of constitutional rights. Read the Enforcement Act of 1871.  

Hamid Karzai born

On December 24, 1957, Hamid Karzai was born in Karz, Afghanistan. He would go on to become in 2004 his country's first elected president after the end of Taliban rule in 2001.