Opposition figure Besigye, appears in court as calls for his release grow

Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye appeared briefly in a civilian court Wednesday as attorneys tried to secure his freedom, but a judge said he was too unwell to follow proceedings.

A visibly frail Besigye, who has been detained since November, was driven back to a maximum-security prison in Kampala, the Ugandan capital.

Besigye’s continued detention is attracting more attention as his supporters, activists and others warn that he needs medical care and should be removed from prison conditions. They say any harm to him while in custody could trigger deadly unrest in this east African country.

His family says he has begun a hunger strike to protest his continued detention after Uganda’s Supreme Court ruled last month that military tribunals cannot try civilians. Besigye’s attorneys say he and others who faced charges before the court-martial should have been released immediately. Justice officials say they are studying the evidence against Besigye in order to charge him in a civilian court.

Besigye, a four-time presidential candidate, is a prominent opposition figure in Uganda. For years he was the most serious challenger to President Yoweri Museveni, who has held power since 1986, before the recent rise of the opposition figure known as Bobi Wine.

Besigye went missing in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on Nov. 16. Days later, he appeared in a cage before a military tribunal in Kampala, charged with offenses concerning a threat to national security. He was later charged before the same tribunal with treachery, an offense under military law that carries the death penalty.

The Commonwealth group of nations, of which Uganda is a member, has urged Ugandan authorities to free Besigye and his co-accused, an assistant named Obeid Lutale. They are “improperly detained,” the group said in a statement.

“Their continued detention raises serious questions about Uganda’s commitment to upholding the rule of law, key tenets of our shared Commonwealth Charter and values,” it said.

Amnesty International also called for Besigye’s release, saying his “abduction clearly violated international human rights law and the process of extradition with its requisite fair trial protections.”

But the president suggested authorities were unlikely to free Besigye without putting him on trial, saying in a statement that his rival must answer for “the very serious offenses he is alleged to have been planning.”

Museveni rejected calls by some for forgiveness and instead urged “a quick trial so that facts come out.”

Military prosecutors accuse Besigye of soliciting weapons in meetings in Europe with the purpose of undermining national security. The charges have not been substantiated, but the president’s son, army commander Muhoozi Kainerugaba, has alleged that Besigye plotted to assassinate Museveni.

“But all of you remember. Besigye wanted to kill my father,” Gen. Kainerugaba said in a post on the social platform X, charging that Besigye deserved to be hanged.

Besigye’s wife, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, says her husband is being framed. His attorney says the charges are politically motivated.

Besigye’s case is being watched closely by Ugandans anxious over political maneuvers ahead of presidential elections next year. Although Museveni is expected to seek re-election, some observers believe he may step aside in favor of Kainerugaba in a bloodless coup.

Many expect an unpredictable political transition because Museveni has no obvious successor within the ranks of the ruling National Resistance Movement party.

Besigye, a qualified physician who retired from Uganda’s military at the rank of colonel, is a former president of the Forum for Democratic Change party, for many years Uganda’s most prominent opposition group. He is a fierce critic of Museveni, for whom he once served as a military assistant and personal doctor.

Uganda has never witnessed a peaceful transfer of presidential power since independence from colonial rule six decades ago.