Ugandan opposition figure Besigye appears in court as calls for his release grow
Supporters, activists and others have said the 68-year-old needs medical care and should be removed from prison.
Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye appeared briefly in a civilian court on Wednesday as lawyers tried to secure his freedom, but a judge said he was too unwell to follow proceedings.
The visibly frail 68-year-old, who has been detained since November, was driven back to a maximum-security prison in Kampala, the Ugandan capital.
His 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 the east African country.
His lawyers 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 Mr Besigye in order to charge him in a civilian court.
Mr 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.
Mr Besigye went missing in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on November 16 last year. Days later, he appeared in a cage before a military tribunal in Kampala, charged with offences concerning a threat to national security.
He was later charged before the same tribunal with treachery, an offence under military law which carries the death penalty.
“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 Mr 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 are unlikely to free Mr Besigye without putting him on trial, saying in a statement that his rival must answer for “the very serious offences he is alleged to have been planning”.
Mr Museveni rejected calls by some for forgiveness and instead urged “a quick trial so that facts come out”.
Military prosecutors accuse Mr 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 Mr Besigye plotted to assassinate Mr Museveni.
“But all of you remember – Besigye wanted to kill my father,” General Kainerugaba said in a post on social media platform X, adding that Mr Besigye deserves to be hanged.
Mr Besigye’s case is being watched closely by Ugandans anxious about political manoeuvres ahead of presidential elections next year. Although Mr Museveni is expected to seek re-election, some observers believe he may step aside in favour of his son in a bloodless coup.
Many expect an unpredictable political transition because Mr Museveni has no obvious successor within the ranks of the ruling National Resistance Movement party.
Mr 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 Mr 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.
