Ms Winnie Byanyima, wife to former Forum for Democratic Change party presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye has put government on notice over the life of her detained husband, warning that the police may try to gain access to Luzira prison to harm him.

In a statement released after she was allowed access to Dr Besigye at the weekend, Ms Byanyima said she is worried about the life of President Museveni's leading Opposition challenger because he is in “the hands of a scared and increasingly desperate regime.”

Ms Byanyima further claimed the government has acquired unnamed “toxic agents,” which could be used to harm political opponents and specifically accused the Judiciary of being “complicit in the abuse of State processes to persecute Besigye.”

But officials in the Prisons and Judiciary dismissed her claims, insisting the two institutions are not being used by the Executive to fix Mr Museveni's political opponents.

Prisons spokesperson Frank Baine said: “Dr Besigye has been an inmate in Luzira prison before and was released without harm,” while Judiciary spokesperson Solomon Muyita argued that “the issue of connivance does not occur” as Courts followed due process in all the cases involving Dr Besigye.

“I am concerned that the lawless and violent police and its illegal militias have in the past had access to Besigye while he was in prison. I warn them not to go to Luzira to harm him. Besigye's life is in the hands of the NRM government. We will hold the government accountable for his safety,” Ms Byanyima said.

Ms Byanyima's worries re-echo similar concerns raised by Dr Besigye when he told the Nakawa Chief Magistrate's Court on May 18 that he fears for his life in prison but the magistrate shut him down half way his pleadings.

Dr Besigye was charged with treason at the Nakawa court and remanded to Luzira prison until June.

When he was held in Moroto Prison, Dr Besigye also said he feared for his life there because the doors to his prison cell were not locked even as he realised suspicious movements around the cell under the cover of darkness.

Ms Winnie Byanyima talks to journalists at Luzira prison last week where her husband and Opposition leader Kizza Besigye is being held. Photo by Abubaker Lubowa