Ugandan opposition leader Besigye is unconscious in hospital after collapsing in court, wife says

Ugandan opposition leader and four-time presidential candidate Kizza Besigye, second left centre, arrives in a civilian court in Kampala, Uganda on Feb. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Hajarah Nalwadda) 2026-07-30T08:14:31Z Kampala, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye has been hospitalized and is unconscious after he collapsed during a courtroom session of his treason trial, according to his wife and others who are urging authorities to set him free after repeated bail denials. Besigye fell in the dock on Wednesday while protesting his trial without lawyers of his own choosing, after authorities detained his main attorney, Erias Lukwago, and charged him with alleged failure to report acts of treason. Besigye’s wife, UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima, said in a post on X that Besigye is unconscious in an intensive care unit at a public hospital in the Ugandan capital of Kampala. “Before he collapsed, he cried out that he was being injured,” she said. Ingrid Turinawe, a close confidant of Besigye, told The Associated Press that she and others were not allowed to see Besigye at the Mulago Hospital. “He is in the ICU, and he is not responding to anything,” she said, adding that Besigye’s personal physician was able to see him several hours after he collapsed. A spokesperson for the Ugandan prison system didn’t respond to a request for comment. The case against Besigye is controversial as Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and his son, military chief Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, have already weighed in against him. Kainerugaba, alleging that Besigye plotted to kill his father, has previously described the opposition figure as “a dead man walking.” And Museveni himself has said Besigye must answer for “the very serious offenses he is alleged to have been planning.” In recent days, prosecutors have moved to present evidence they say will prove Besigye and others plotted to overthrow the government. Besigye’s political party says the charges against him are fake and politically motivated. (