Lira, 15th / February/2016; Police in Lira District Northern Uganda arrested and detained the News Editor of Radio North FM, Richard Mungu Jakican and six politicians on 13th February 2016 during a radio talk show accusing them of defacing President Museveni’s posters. All are still in police custody.
Police led by Acting Regional Police Commander John Ematu and Lira District Police Commander Ezra Tugume with ten police officers stormed the radio studio at 11.47pm local time where Mungu had hosted six politicians to analyze the presidential debate and ordered the arrest of everyone in the studio. The police allege that the journalist and his six guests defaced President Museveni’s posters when they went for a commercial break.
The Police Spokesperson North Kyoga Mansahur Suwed confirmed to HRNJ-Uganda the arrest and detention of a journalist and his guests. “During the break of the show, some politicians moved out of the studio and started defacing Museveni’s posters, one journalist and politicians were arrested……they are still helping us with investigations and at a later time they will be released. They have been charged with defacing campaign posters, and with an investigation you cannot take some and leave others and that’s why the journalist was taken to help in investigations,” he said.
“We highly condemn the actions of Uganda Police Force to arrest an innocent journalist who was performing his duties. How will he help the police in investigations yet he was in the studios. We call upon the police in Lira to release the journalist immediately,” said the HRNJ-Uganda National Coordinator Robert Ssempala.
