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.