Human rights activists, lawyers and medical practitioners in East Africa called on the Ugandan government Tuesday to release opposition leader Kizza Besigye, who has spent the past three months in military detention.

Ugandan opposition leader and four-time presidential candidate Kizza Besigye appears in a civilian court in Kampala, Uganda Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda)

Veteran Ugandan opposition politician Kizza Besigye has been charged with treason in a civilian court after his controversial case was transferred from a military tribunal. Treason is a capital offence in Uganda and if found guilty the 68-year-old cold be sentenced to death.

Uganda has reversed a controversial plan to hold a military trial for a prominent opposition leader due to his failing health. Information Minister Chris Baryomunsi announced late on Sunday that Kizza Besigye would have his case transferred to a civilian court.

Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye has been charged with treason, in an escalation of legal troubles stemming from allegations he plotted to remove the country’s long-time leader by force.

The saga of Dr Kizza Besigye's trial has taken another twist after he was on Feb. 21 sneaked into Nakawa Chief Magistrates Court and charged with treason and misprision of treason which, on conviction,

Yoweri Museveni's son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, could not stay quiet after news of his father and Kizza Besigye's wife Winnie Byanyima's relationship.

A Ugandan court charged opposition leader Kizza Besigye with treason over an alleged plot to end President Yoweri Museveni’s four-decade rule of the East African nation.

Uganda: Opposition’s Kizza Besigye Goes on Hunger Strike Amid Detention | Firstpost Africa | N18G Uganda’s prominent opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, has gone on a hunger strike in prison. His lawyer said that the opposition figure began the strike in protest intending to show his discontent to the authorities over his detention.

Buhweju County lawmaker Francis Mwijukye confirmed that Kizza Besigye had been rushed to a clinic in Uganda's capital Kampala over his deteriorating health

Ugandan authorities should release from prison former opposition presidential candidate Kizza Besigye, whose health has deteriorated as the result of a hunger strike, his lawyer, and others who are in detention by reason of the rulings from military courts.