Ugandan Court Jails Soldiers Who Assaulted journalists

A military court in Uganda has jailed seven soldiers convicted of assaulting journalists covering an event outside a United Nations office.

The court sentenced them to three months imprisonment each. An army captain and six other operatives of the country’s military were those convicted.

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On Wednesday, a group of journalists had gathered outside the UN office in Kampala, the capital, for an event organised by Bobi Wine, the country’s opposition leader.

Wine had visited the office deliver a petition, calling on the UN to probe strings of human rights violation in the country including torture, abductions and illegal detention.

But the soldiers had descended on the journalists, with many of them scampering for safety in the process.

The soldiers were said to have hit the journalists with batons with four of those assaulted said to have sustained serious injuries.

The move is considered a watershed in the country where punishment of security operatives for assaulting citizens is hard to come by.

The country’s Military chief, General David Muhoozi, had apologised for the incident and vowed to punish the culprits amid the outrage trailing the incident.

“Such actions are regrettable and the UPDF as a professional institution doesn’t condone such acts,” he said.