But in an interview with The Washington Post at the United Nations last week, Ugandan Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda rejected claims that the Ugandan government would trump up such charges, saying he does not believe “the government is so malicious that it focuses on disrupting the lives of people."

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“That is not correct,” he said.

Wine was arrested about seven weeks ago, after Museveni’s convoy was allegedly stoned at a political rally that both men attended in the northern town of Arua. A scuffle broke out, Wine’s driver was killed, and Wine, along with members of his entourage, was detained. He has since alleged that he was severely tortured by Ugandan troops while in custody.

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He was later released on bail and allowed to travel to the United States on medical grounds. Wine told The Post in an interview during that visit that military officials beat him relentlessly, damaging a kidney and his testicles and bruising his back. He also said he was injected with unknown substances. His eyes were swollen and he had trouble walking, leaning on a crutch for support.

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Rugunda declined to say whether he believed Wine had been tortured by Ugandan troops, saying only that he wants Wine’s trial to run its course. “I think we should give an opportunity for the investigation to take place,” he said. “I have confidence in the system that is investigating it, and I await the results.”

Wine is one of more than 30 people, including a number of his friends, who have now been accused of treason over the alleged stoning of the president’s convoy. In the courtroom on Monday, Wine’s case was adjourned until December; one of his attorneys, Nicholas Opiyo, called it a “pleasant surprise” for Wine’s legal team, who expected to have less time to prepare their case. Opiyo insists the charges are politically motivated.

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“All of us are aware that this kind of case tends to die out once the political objective for which this case has been filed in the very first place is achieved,” Opiyo said. “We know too well that we have not seen any evidence to suggest that all 36 people connived, planned and threw a stone at the president’s car.”

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Rugunda previously rejected the conclusions of a report from an ad hoc parliamentary committee that described how Wine and a fellow lawmaker, Francis Zaake, claimed to have been beaten by the military. The committee’s chairwoman also declined to sign the report.

Rugunda told The Post that he rejected the report largely because he did not believe it was thorough enough. The committee, he said, did not include the perspective of Museveni, whom he called the “first target” of the attack. He added that more time is needed for “more serious investigations that will provide a rational basis for decision-making, and apportioning responsibilities.”

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Museveni was once a rebel who helped overthrow both the notorious Idi Amin regime in 1979 and a military government in 1986. He took power as president that same year.

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Rugunda argued that Museveni has largely brought stability and predictability to Uganda, a country once riddled by conflict, in a neighborhood where many other countries are still struggling to stabilize. Under Amin, many civilians were arbitrarily arrested, tortured and killed. In more recent times, Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Resistance Army rampaged through northern Uganda, displacing nearly 2 million people and kidnapping and killings tens of thousands of others.

But critics say Museveni has used his decades in office to cement his own hold on power and suppress Uganda’s democracy. Opiyo said that “Museveni is unwilling to subject his men and women in uniform of the armed forces to independent transparent scrutiny.”

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Last year, after much debate, the Ugandan parliament voted in favor of removing a constitutional provision that previously prevented those older than 75 from running for president. The move was widely seen as an attempt to keep Museveni, who is nearly 75, in power.

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Rugunda backed that change. “We don’t think that term limits as may be valued in the United States should automatically be the formula in the rest of the world,” he said. “That suffering that we see in our neighborhood is in a way cautioning Ugandans to be more careful as they make their democratic choices.”

But Uganda is an increasingly young country, with a growing population of youth born after Museveni took power, with no firsthand memories of how he fought to get there. As Wine wrote in one of his most popular songs, “Freedom,” many of them see the need for change.

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“See our leaders become misleaders, and see our mentors become tormentors,” he sings. “Freedom fighters become dictators, they look 'pon the youth and say we’re destructors.”