Detained Ugandan opposition figure is unconscious, in intensive care, his wife says

NAIROBI, July 30 - Detained prominent Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye, who collapsed while in court on Wednesday, is unconscious and has been admitted to an intensive care unit, his wife said in an X post early on Thursday.

Besigye, 70, collapsed in a court in the capital Kampala where he is standing trial for treason. He was taken away in an ambulance.

In a post on the X platform, Winnie Byanyima, who also heads the United Nations AIDS programme UNAIDS, said her husband had been admitted to an ICU at Mulago National Referral Hospital in the capital.

"He is unconscious, unable to speak, and unresponsive even to a pain stimulus," she said.

Government spokesperson Alan Kasujja did not answer a Reuters call for comment.

Besigye has been in custody since November 2024 after he was detained together with his aide Obeid Lutale in neighbouring Kenya and both were repatriated to Uganda where they were subsequently charged with treason.

His lawyers, supporters and rights activists say that the charges are politically motivated and that his prolonged detention is part of an ongoing crackdown on opponents by long-ruling President Yoweri Museveni.

Museveni, 81, was declared winner of the last election in January although the results were rejected by runner-up Bobi Wine, who has since gone into exile in the United States. REUTERS