Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye was admitted to intensive care in Kampala on Wednesday after collapsing during his treason trial, his wife said.
The 70-year-old was in court objecting to the appointment of state lawyers when he lost consciousness. Prison officers carried him out and took him to Mulago National Referral Hospital.
“He is unconscious, unable to speak, and unresponsive even to a pain stimulus,” Winnie Byanyima, Besigye’s wife and head of UNAIDS, wrote on X. She said he cried out that he was being injured before he fell, and that his sister, Dr. Olive Kobusingye, was in court but not initially allowed to help him.
Byanyima said Besigye is refusing treatment from government medical staff. “He will not allow any government official to touch him,” she posted, and asked that he be treated by his personal doctor at a private clinic instead. The ICU where he is being held is under heavy security. Reports later said his sister was permitted to see him.
Besigye has been in detention since November 2024. He and aide Obeid Lutale face treason charges they deny. Prosecutors allege they plotted to overthrow President Yoweri Museveni’s government. Treason carries a possible death sentence in Uganda.
His legal team has also come under pressure. Lead lawyer Erias Lukwago was arrested by the army last month and charged. Kenyan lawyer Martha Karua was barred from entering Uganda when she arrived to represent Besigye.
Witnesses in the High Court said Besigye repeatedly shouted “stop” about his legal representation before collapsing.
Besigye’s son, Adam Ampa, issued a public appeal for his release on humanitarian grounds. “Regardless of politics, no son should have to witness his father reach such a state while standing before the very law he served and dedicated his life,” he wrote.
Opposition leader Bobi Wine called Besigye’s appearance in court while visibly unwell a “shocking violation of his most basic rights.”
Besigye, who once served as Museveni’s personal doctor, broke with the president in 1999 and ran against him four times. He was abducted in Kenya in 2024 and returned to Uganda, and has been less active in politics in recent years.
