UGANDA OPPOSITION FIGURE BESIGYE APPEARS IN MILITARY COURT. (PHOTO).

 Uganda opposition figure Besigye appears in military court

Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye appeared in a military court in Kampala on Wednesday after his reported "abduction" in neighbouring Kenya, AFP reported.

The manner of Besigye's detention has caused an uproar, with concerns over Kenya's role and the heightened crackdown on the opposition in Uganda.

Besigye, 68, was brought to the General Court Martial in handcuffs and under a heavily armed military escort, his lawyer, Erias Lukwago, told AFP.

"Besigye has objected to his trial before the General Court Martial and informed the court chairman that he is a civilian who should not be tried in a military court," said Lukwago, adding that the charges against him were not known.

An ally-turned-foe of veteran President Yoweri Museveni, Besigye has run unsuccessfully against him in presidential elections four times since 2001.

His wife Winnie Byanyima, who is head of UNAIDS, the United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, said on X that her husband was kidnapped Saturday while in Nairobi for a book launch by Kenyan opposition politician Martha Karua.

In recent months, Ugandan authorities have waged a crackdown on the opposition, arresting prominent leaders and putting dozens on trial.

In July, 36 members of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) -- the party Besigye founded two decades ago -- were deported from Kenya and tried in Uganda on terrorism charges.

"You can be arrested from anywhere because countries have treaties or instruments that they signed between them that allow for extradition," Ugandan government spokesman Chris Baryomunsi told reporters Wednesday.

"So being arrested from Kenya would not be a problem," he added, insisting the government does not believe in "abducting people" and keeping them "incommunicado."

But rights groups are increasingly concerned that Kenya is colluding in the kidnapping of foreign nationals on its soil.

Museveni and Besigye were once close, fighting together in the 1980s bush war to overthrow Milton Obote, with Besigye serving as Museveni's trusted personal physician.

They became foes when Besigye broke ranks with the ruling National Resistance Movement and ran for the presidency in 2001, later forming the FDC with other disaffected NRM members.