ZAM has joined the Ugandan civil rights groups Agora and the African Institute for Investigative Journalism (AIIJ) in condemning the arrests of journalists Agather Atuhaire and Godwin Toko, while calling for their immediate release. Atuhaire, Toko, and other civil rights activists were detained by Ugandan police on Thursday during a march in the capital, Kampala.
The peaceful march protested the imprisonment of Eron Kiiza, the lawyer representing opposition leader Kizza Besigye. Besigye himself has been detained for some time. Both imprisonments have been strongly condemned by Amnesty International, which described Eron Kiiza's case as particularly “outrageous.” The organisation stated: “Military personnel baselessly prevented [the lawyer] from accessing defence benches, then assaulted and arrested him, before hauling him to a court-martial, which convicted and sentenced him without even reading charges or hearing arguments.”
A Daily Monitor clip shows Agather Atuhaire’s arrest on Thursday, as two police officers escort her away from the protest march. The officers appear indifferent to Atuhaire’s explanation that the rule of law conflicts with the violation of citizens’ rights and the imprisonment of political activists. In a press release, the AAIJ states: “Agather is a passionate citizen dedicated to the cause of good governance, continuously shining a light on corruption, bad governance, and abuse of power. Godwin Toko is also a committed advocate for human rights and transparency.”
ZAM joins the AIIJ and others in calling for the immediate release of Atuhaire, Toko, and all political prisoners in Uganda.
Update: Later on Thursday, the journalists and activists were released on bail. A court case against them, based on charges of "placing themselves in the road in such a manner as to cause danger or inconvenience to traffic," was adjourned to 29 January. Several civil society organisations have since called for the "spurious charges" to be dropped.
