Ugandan Opposition Leader Kizza Besigye Collapses in Court.

Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in Kampala after collapsing and losing consciousness during the hearing of his treason case.

Besigye, 70, has been in detention since November 2024.

His lead lawyer was arrested last month and charged with allegedly failing to report acts of treason. He remains in police custody.

Besigye, whose health appears to have deteriorated significantly, was protesting the government's decision to appoint state lawyers to represent him in court when he suddenly collapsed and lost consciousness. Prison officers immediately rushed him to the hospital.

"He remains unconscious. He cannot speak and does not respond even when pricked with a needle to test his response to pain," his wife, Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), wrote on X.

Witnesses present at the High Court in Kampala on Wednesday said Besigye repeatedly shouted, "Leave me alone!" in protest over the issue of his legal representation before collapsing.

He was initially taken to Mulago National Referral Hospital, Uganda's largest public hospital, but refused treatment from government medical personnel.

Byanyima later posted on X, saying, "We will not allow any government official to touch him."

She has insisted that Besigye be treated by his personal physician at a private medical facility rather than at a government hospital.

The ICU where Besigye is receiving treatment has been surrounded by security personnel. Reports indicate that his sister, who is also his personal doctor, has been allowed to see him.

Besigye's lead lawyer, Erias Lukwago, has been in custody since being arrested by the military last month.

Another member of his legal team, Kenyan lawyer Martha Karua, was reportedly denied entry into Uganda after traveling there last month to represent Besigye.

Besigye's son, Adam Ampa, has appealed to President Yoweri Museveni and his son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, the Chief of Defence Forces of Uganda, to show compassion and release his father on humanitarian grounds.

Besigye, who has contested Uganda's presidency against President Museveni on four occasions, was reportedly abducted in Kenya in 2024 before being taken back to Uganda.