Ugandan opposition figure's lawyer charged with treason-related offence

NAIROBI, June 17 - A prominent Ugandan lawyer representing detained opposition figure Kizza Besigye was charged with a treason-related offence on Wednesday, days after he was arrested by security forces.

The lawyer, Erias Lukwago, is himself a senior figure in the opposition and used to be mayor of the capital Kampala.

He appeared in court and denied the charge of "misprision of treason," or failing to report treason to the authorities, and was remanded in custody.

Lukwago is representing Besigye in a treason trial and in a related case in which Besigye sued the country's military chief Muhoozi Kainerugaba for repeatedly threatening his life on social media.

Kainerugaba is the son of Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni, 81, who won a disputed presidential election in January that extended his four-decade rule.

Uganda's main opposition leader, pop singer-turned-politician Bobi Wine, who is in exile in the U.S., said on Monday that soldiers had seized Lukwago as he was preparing to serve a court summons on the military chief.

Spokespeople for the Ugandan military and police did not respond to Reuters calls for comment.

Outside court on Wednesday, Lukwago's lawyer told journalists he had collapsed in detention after being made to do intense physical drills.

Kainerugaba is well-known to Ugandans for his incendiary social media posts, and after Lukwago's arrest he posted on X that he was "proud of ALL the hurt and pain" he would inflict on Lukwago.

Kainerugaba has threatened to hang Besigye and kill Wine, who fled Uganda after this year's election. REUTERS