Besigye Treason Trial Stalls as Court Orders Medical Report After No-Show

What the report says

Nile Post reported that the treason trial of jailed opposition politician Dr Kizza Besigye was halted at the High Court Criminal Division in Kampala after he was not brought to court for the second day of proceedings. Besigye had reportedly collapsed in the dock during Wednesday’s hearing, and on Thursday Justice Emmanuel Baguma ordered the Uganda Prisons Service to submit a medical report explaining his condition.

According to the report, the court resumed after a wait of nearly three hours, but proceedings could not move forward once the judge was informed that Besigye was absent. Justice Baguma said he had received communication from Luzira indicating that the accused could not attend. Besigye’s co-accused, Obeid Lutale and Captain Denis Oola, were produced in court.

The prosecution, led by State Attorney Thomas Jatiko, indicated it was prepared to continue and said its first witness was available. However, court-appointed defence lawyer Sylvia Namawejje objected, arguing that the matter should not proceed without all accused persons present. The judge accepted that position and stood down the prosecution’s first witness, identified by Nile Post as British-American national Andy Wilson Orlando, before he testified.

The report also says Lutale repeated objections to being represented by state-appointed lawyers, saying he had not consented to that representation. Justice Baguma directed absent court-appointed defence lawyers to attend the next session and adjourned the case to August 4, 2026. The medical report is expected to guide whether the trial can resume, a significant procedural issue in a high-profile case involving one of Uganda’s best-known opposition figures.