New Delhi, Jan. 21 -- The health of jailed Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye is failing, his party said on Tuesday, after he was driven overnight to a medical facility in the capital, Kampala.

Besigye's health "has reached a critical and deteriorating state," the People's Front for Freedom said in a statement that also demanded unrestricted access to Besigye by his personal doctors and family.

Besigye, a veteran politician who was Uganda's most prominent opposition figure before the rise of Bobi Wine, is being detained in a maximum-security jail in Kampala. He is set to be tried over treason charges he says are politically motivated.

"It is a tragedy that a man who has dedicated his life to the health and freedom of others is bei...