A court in Uganda has freed eight journalists facing trail for publishing ‘fake news’ about the country’s president Yoweri Museveni.
They were freed on bail by a Kampala court after they were held for weeks for reporting that President Museveni was plotting to overthrow the Rwandan government.
Prosecutors in Uganda have preferred treason charges against the journalists who published a news report claiming that Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni was plotting to overthrow Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame.
Last month Police raided the offices of the privately-owned English-language newspaper the ‘Red Pepper’ arresting several of the workers.
They are accused of publishing and distributing a story on Uganda military operations, strategies and troop deployment in likely breach of national security.
The journalists are charged with publishing information prejudicial to security, libel and offensive communication to President Yoweri Museveni and his brother General Salim Saleh.
The lawyer for the journalists, Dickens Byamukama told AFP that “It has been a month of uncertainty for these journalists as they have been moved from one detention centre to another but to also their families that have endured this ordeal,”
“It’s not only these (directors and editors) that have suffered but also the Red Pepper group’s readers that have not seen the papers on the streets since the police sealed off and took over the premises,” Dickens Byamukama added.
The trial resumes on January 19, 2018.
Source: Africafeeds.com
