Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye appeared briefly in a civilian court as attorneys tried to secure his freedom, but a judge said he was too unwell to follow proceedings.

A Ugandan official says a prominent opposition figure facing military trial, Kizza Besigye, will be charged before a civilian court instead.

A prominent opposition figure in Uganda who is on trial in a military tribunal has begun a hunger strike, his wife said, two weeks after the country's top court banned courts-martial from trying civilians.

Detained Ugandan opposition politician Kizza Besigye, on hunger strike for a week, has been returned to prison after being in a clinic overnight, his allies have said. The 68-year-old was rushed to a private medical facility in a prison ambulance as his his health was deteriorating,