Ugandan police raided the office of a local newspaper,
detaining staff and confiscating equipment on allegations it had published an
inaccurate story, the paper’s lawyer and police said on Wednesday.
The day before the Tuesday evening raid, Red Pepper, Uganda’s
leading tabloid, published a story alleging that Rwanda believed President
Yoweri Museveni of Uganda was plotting to oust him. The article cited unnamed
sources.
Police spokesman Emirian Kayima said eight managers and
editors at the newspaper’s Kampala head office were detained after police
searched the paper’s Kampala office on Tuesday evening and confiscated
computers and mobile phones.
Kayima said the eight staff were being held at a detention
facility in eastern Uganda and would appear in court when investigations were
complete.
He said the story contained “serious statements and
insinuations...that have grave implications on national and regional security
and stability.”
The paper’s lawyer Maxma Mutabingwa said uniformed police
told Red Pepper staff during their search that “they wanted material and
information on a story published on Monday.” He said homes of some of the
managers were also searched but gave no details.
Red Pepper was not published on Wednesday and staff had not
been allowed to access the offices since the raid, Mutabingwa said.
Human rights groups say harassment of independent media by
security personnel has been escalating in the East African country where
Museveni, 73, has ruled for 31 years.
Local media including Red Pepper have reported this month on
tensions between Uganda and neighbouring Rwanda over a range of economic and
security disputes.
Relations between the two countries are often complicated by
their shared history which has by turns been a source of mutual suspicion and
amity.
Kagame, the Rwandan leader, grew up as a refugee in Uganda
and also occupied a top position in the Ugandan army after serving in the
guerrilla movement that helped Museveni take power in 1986.
The Rwandan leader launched his own rebellion from Uganda
that ushered him into power and halted a genocide in Rwanda in which an
estimated 800,000 people were killed.
Reuters
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