UJU Condemns Police for Beating up WBS TV Journalist

The Uganda Journalists Union (UJU) condemns in the strongest terms possible the clobbering, flogging and torture of Wavah Broadcasting Services (WBS) Television Journalist by the Police. WBS Television cameraman Andrew Lwanga was filming the arrest of youth activists when Old Kampala Police DPC, Joram Mwesigye, ordered his arrested and instructed his men to clobber and flog him on the road side. The journalist sustained injuries after being beaten and flogged on the tarmac while his camera was damaged as the police kicked him from all sides. WBS Television senior Editor John Baptist Imokola said the journalist has been treated in a clinic and discharged, adding his condition stable and is improving. He confirmed the journalist’s camera was damaged and that the station is opening up a case against the Police. The Uganda Journalists Union (UJU) President Ms Lucy Anyango Ekadu said the Police must stop forthwith acts of repression directed at the journalists. “Perpetrators of these human rights violations must be brought to book and prosecuted if the rule of law is to prevail in Uganda,” she said. She said the Police must apologize and take full responsibility for the wrath unleashed on the journalist, including compensating him for the injuries inflicted plus damages to his camera. “If Police does not guarantee safety of Journalists then we could impose a blackout on all government functions,” she said. Ugandan Journalists could be facing a precursor to the 2016 Parliamentary and Presidential elections campaigns where the worst could be encountered by the media.