New Delhi, June 18 -- A court in Uganda on Wednesday charged an attorney for a jailed opposition leader with concealing treason, escalating a dispute with the country's army chief whom the lawyer sought to hold accountable for alleged abuses.

Erias Lukwago was charged before a magistrate's court in Kampala, the Ugandan capital, days after he was seized and taken into custody on the orders of army chief Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

Lukwago was charged with "misprision of treason," a crime that the presiding magistrate said stems from his alleged failure to report acts of treason by others. He has denied the charges.

Lukwago, the president of the People's Front for Freedom opposition group, is an attorney for Kizza Besigye, a four-time pres...