(RSF/IFEX) – On 11 October 2002, RSF condemned Uganda’s security forces for searching the offices of the country’s only independent newspaper, “The Monitor”, without a warrant on 10 October, and preventing publication of the daily’s 11 October issue. The organisation also expressed concern about the army’s reported kidnapping of Frank Nyakairu, one of the newspaper’s […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 11 October 2002, RSF condemned Uganda’s security forces for searching the offices of the country’s only independent newspaper, “The Monitor”, without a warrant on 10 October, and preventing publication of the daily’s 11 October issue. The organisation also expressed concern about the army’s reported kidnapping of Frank Nyakairu, one of the newspaper’s journalists, and called for his immediate release.
“The security forces’ attitude represents a serious threat to press freedom,” said RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard in a letter to President Yoweri Museveni. He urged the president to ensure that such incidents are not repeated and that journalists are allowed to carry out their work free of threats and arbitrary searches.
Police searched “The Monitor”‘s offices on 10 October, following the newspaper’s publication of an article reporting that rebels in the country’s north had shot down an army helicopter. Police were looking for Nyakairu, the author of the contentious article, and any material concerning the report. According to staff at “The Monitor”, Nyakairu was reportedly kidnapped by army troops in the city of Gulu (northern Uganda) on 11 October.
Press freedom has deteriorated in Uganda since early 2002. A journalism student was killed by police during an opposition demonstration in January and a strict new anti-terrorist law likely to lead to abuses was passed in March (see IFEX alerts of 22 and 21 March and 21 January 2002).
