Kizza Besigye has grown ‘critically ill’ during hunger strike against imprisonment, his lawyer says.
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. The announcement came amid reports that Besigye, who is on hunger strike, had been temporarily moved to a medical clinic.
Baryomunsi had earlier visited Besigye in prison to urge him to end his hunger strike while his case is moved. The veteran opposition leader is charged with illegal firearm possession and threatening state security.
Mr. Baryomunsi, your actions are an insult and an abuse of my husband’s rights.@kizzabesigye1 was abducted and is being held captive by your government. As an NRM minister, you are not a concerned visitor—you are his captor.
Our family finds your visit highly suspicious, and… https://t.co/VZuqhRmXeY
— Winnie Byanyima (@Winnie_Byanyima) February 16, 2025
Besigye’s wife, Winnie Byanyima, called the minister’s visit “highly suspicious”.
“You are not a concerned visitor. You are his captor,” she said on X. “We will hold you and your government fully accountable for any harm that comes to him.”
‘Travesty of justice’
A longtime critic of President Yoweri Museveni, Besigye has been in a Luzira Maximum Security Prison in the capital, Kampala, since November. His lawyers say he was “kidnapped” in neighbouring Kenya and forcibly brought to Uganda.
Rights groups and opposition lawmakers have condemned the arrest. Amnesty International has branded Besigye’s detainment a “travesty of justice”.
Besigye started a hunger strike last week, an act his wife described as his “act of protest” against the “illegal detention”. His lawyer warned on Thursday that the opposition figure had grown “critically ill”.
Public outcry over the detention of Besigye grew after he appeared in court on Friday looking frail and struggling to walk.
On Sunday, Besigye was rushed in a wheelchair to a health clinic in Kampala. A relative told local media that the opposition figure was “not in a good situation”.
Besigye has been arrested numerous times over the years, including in 2022 on charges of inciting violence.
He has run for president against Museveni, who has ruled the East African country since 1986, four times. He lost all the elections but rejected the results and alleged fraud and voter intimidation.
Over the decades, Museveni’s government has been accused of repeated human rights violations against opposition leaders and supporters, including illegal detentions, torture and extrajudicial killings.
Authorities in Uganda have rejected these accusations, saying those arrested are held legally and are given due process in the judicial system.
The government had earlier said it would ignore a Supreme Court ruling that trying Besigye in a military court would be unconstitutional.