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Africa

Ugandan opposition leader charged with treason over protests

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    FILE - In this Sunday, Feb. 21, 2016 file photo, opposition leader and presidential candidate Kizza Besigye speaks to the media while under continued house arrest, at his home in Kasangati, outside the capital Kampala, in Uganda. A spokesman for Uganda's judiciary said Saturday, May 14, 2016 that the main opposition leader Kizza Besigye has been flown to Moroto in the remote northeast of the country and charged with treason, a charge which attracts a maximum penalty of death upon conviction. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 22, 2016 file photo, a Ugandan riot policeman blocks the gate of the party headquarters of opposition leader Kizza Besigye, shortly after raiding the premises for the second time in a week, in the capital Kampala, Uganda. A spokesman for Uganda's judiciary said Saturday, May 14, 2016 that the main opposition leader Kizza Besigye has been flown to Moroto in the remote northeast of the country and charged with treason, a charge which attracts a maximum penalty of death upon conviction. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) (The Associated Press)

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    FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 22, 2016 file photo, Uganda's main opposition leader Kizza Besigye, center, is arrested by police and thrown into the back of a blacked-out police van, outside his home in Kasangati, Uganda. A spokesman for Uganda's judiciary said Saturday, May 14, 2016 that the main opposition leader Kizza Besigye has been flown to Moroto in the remote northeast of the country and charged with treason, a charge which attracts a maximum penalty of death upon conviction. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis, File) (The Associated Press)

KAMPALA, Uganda – A judiciary spokesman says Uganda's main opposition leader has been charged with treason and jailed in a remote area in the country's northeast.

Solomon Muyita said Saturday that Kizza Besigye was handed charges late Friday stemming from his attacks on the legitimacy of President Yoweri Museveni, who won a disputed election in February.

Museveni has held power since 1986. Besigye claims he won the election, and there is a video online purportedly showing Besigye being sworn in as Uganda's president.

Muyita said the alleged inauguration of Besigye is one of the reasons for the treason charge, which carries a maximum penalty of death on conviction.

Besigye was charged in the district of Moroto, where he had been flown after being arrested on Wednesday in the capital Kampala.