Jeg har venner i FDC og A4C. Via disse har jeg disse nyhetene. Ikke at dette er interesant for Norsk presse. Av den enkle grunnen til de kjenner ikke til historien til personene som er i sentrum av sagaen. Idag har det blitt gitt beskjed at Kale Kayihura er blitt general, og han er allerede overhode over politiet i Uganda.
Daily Monitor, Red Pepper og 2 radio stasjoner ryktes forsatt å være lukket. Gaten rundt Monitor Media er stengt. Samtidig er det blitt rokkeringer i hæren. General Katumba etter at Sejusa er borte.
Muhoozi project har kommet til pressen og presidenten vil ikke ha noe slikt. Daily Monitor sendte klage til retten, den ble forkastet. Det skal bli satt opp ny høring den 30 Mai. Inntil da ser det kanskje ut som kontorene til avisen vil være stengte – samtidig er statspressen i New Vision i full vigør. Her er offisielle Press-release om saken:
PRESS STATEMENT ON THE SEARCH OF THE NATION MEDIA GROUP AND PEPPER PUBLICATIONS
Members of the Uganda Police Force this morning cordoned off the premises of the Nation Media Group in Namuwongo and Pepper Publications in Namanve. The FM radio stations – K FM and Dembe FM were taken off-air.
This is to reassure Ugandans that the government is not interfering with press freedom.
The search of the above premises comes on the heels of the utterances made by Gen.David Sejusa, aka Tinyefuza which have caused undue excitement. This is being treated as a matter of national security.
However the police is working within the parameters of the law, specifically, section 37 of the Penal Code which bars the publication of information prejudicial to national security.The Police went through the due legal process and secured a court order
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which was issued by a court of competent jurisdiction (Nakawa Chief Magistrates Court).There is therefore nothing untoward or surprising about the procedures used, as great care has been taken to follow the law to the letter. For the time being the premises in question are being treated as crime scenes.
As soon as investigations are over
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which will be very soon as police is under instructions to handle the matter expeditiously
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the premises will be duly handed back to the owners.
About social media
This is also to quash rumours going round that Social Media has been banned or that the platforms are about to be closed. This is not true. There is no plan to switch off or disconnect Social Media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
Hon. Mary Karooro Okurut (Mrs)
Minister of Information and National Guidance
Min kommentar på Press release:
For å kommentere dette brevet fra ministeren av Informasjon og nasjonens veiledning. Man kan si at det er en hyggelig form for overtakelse av mediahuset Monitor Media Uganda. Så man kan bare si at hvis man skal kunne påstå at det er relativ media frihet i landet. Da skulle man kunne påstå at slike handlinger er uverdig. President Museveni kunne kanskje på 80 tallet og begynnelsen av 90 tallet å være en man med ønske om demokratiske og frihetstanker til folket. Selv etter å kuppet dette fra Obote II og Yusuf Lule. Derfor kan man lure hva som har skjedd siden 1986 til idag, annet enn at makten har korrupert. For å vise mer galskapen, her er press release fra Politiet:
UGANDA POLICE FORCE
20 May 2013
PRESS RELEASE
Uganda Police, on May 15, 2013, received a Court Order, from the Chief Magistrates Court Nakawa, requiring Daily Monitor journalists to avail and provide the original copy of a letter and other related documents, purportedly authored by Gen. David Sejusa (a.k.a.Tinyefuza), and the source of the said missive. The said documents are to help police investigate criminal offences.Daily Monitor Publications was duly served with the Court Order and confirmed receipt by signature.Though multiple requests were made, the organization has adamantly refused to comply with the Court Order leading to issuance of a search warrant by the same Nakawa Magistrates Court.Today, May 20, 2013, in pursuance of the search warrant Daily Monitor premises have been cordoned off in accordance with the Laws of Uganda. In particular, Section 27 of the Police Act.Similarly a search warrant has been secured for Red Pepper premises in respect of the three press releases allegedly authored by Gen. Sejusa. Uganda Police is currently searching the premises to recover the said press releases.Uganda Police shall continue to occupy and search the two premises until the said documents are retrieved to assist with ongoing investigations.Uganda Police further requests that all concerned parties cooperate with the police in the execution of the search warrant.
Judith Nabakooba
Police Spokesperson
20/05/2013
Kommentar på denne:
Her forsetter man å forsvare angrepet og hvorfor man gjør det. Man kan si hva man vil. Men vil det forsvare det. Her er det en statement fra den ene avisen Red pepper:
STATEMENT ON CURRENT SITUATION AT RED PEPPER
May 21, 2013
Yesterday morning, we received a search warrant from Magistrate’s Court in Nakawa requiring us to hand over to the police a Press Release that we had received from Gen. David Sejusa’s lawyers and published in the Red Pepper on May 15th 2013.
After consulting with our lawyers, we proceeded to hand over to the police a copy of this same Press Release. The police went ahead and carried out a search of our offices and cordoned of the area. Because of this, we have not been able to publish an edition of Red Pepper and it’s sister papers today.
We are saddened and disappointed that despite us complying with the court’s request, the police have refused to vacate our premises and to allow us to carry on with our work. They insist that they are carrying out more search for documents which they neither told us nor the magistrate who gave them the search warrant.
We have since been informed by our friends in government that this is not about just a Press Release which was distributed to all media in Uganda, but a long term plan orchestrated to cripple Red Pepper economically and disable its capacity to do business in Uganda anymore. We have been informed that the plan is to keep our offices closed for as long as they like, dismantle our new printing press, destroy our computers and servers by installing malicious malware and then hand over the junk when they are satisfied that we have been taken back to the stone age.
We need to remind all Ugandans and the international community that this is not the first time a raid of this nature is happening to Red Pepper. In 2008, men with guns, dressed in military uniform and riding government pick up trucks bombed this same printing press and burnt it down.
The act was captured on CCTV and despite a police investigation; none of the culprits has ever been brought to justice. This latest invasion is therefore another attempt to whet their long held desire to cripple an investment that is employing hundreds of Ugandans. This is a classic case of economic sabotage in which the government turns against a business owned by its citizens.
The Red Pepper is a law-abiding company. We respect the police and the courts of law. But we demand that the police and the courts of law do the same of law adding businesses in this country. There is no justifiable reason why the police and the courts should deny the hundreds of innocent Ugandans who work at The Red Pepper an opportunity to continue earning a living. If there’s a criminal case to pursue, we believe the process can go on without necessarily disabling the operations of a legally established company in Uganda.
We ask that the police and the courts to do their job without interfering with the freedom of the press as enshrined in the Constitution of Uganda.
Richard Tusiime
CEO
The Pepper Publications Limited
Siste Kommentar:
Yes, her er min siste kommentar. Dette viser hvor alvorlig det hele er. Og ikke minst hvor seriøst det hele er. Hvis ikke bildene på forrige bloggen fortalte sitt språk. Burde disse virkelig fortelle en viss sannhet og løgner. Som ikke kan kommenteres. Ikke minst hvor langt en autoritær stat gjør for å bevare sannheter og prosjekter unna sin befolkning. Håper dette var god lesning. Hvis ikke kanskje det åpnet dine øyne litt. Du kan si hva du vil. Men dette er ikke gjort korrekt ei eller av et statsapperat som virkelig vil ha fri presse. Peace.