US Mission Uganda calls for the release of Red Pepper managers

US Mission Uganda has urged the Ugandan government to respect the rights of its citizen especially journalists. They have on the government to release detained 5 Pepper Publications Limited owners and their 3 editors.

“Recent events involving the Red Pepper are part of a disturbing deterioration of Press Freedom in Uganda. Uganda’s constitution guarantees freedom of the press and freedom of expression. We call on the government of Uganda to safeguard these fundamental freedoms. Ugandan authorities should immediately releases eight employees of the newspaper,” US Mission Ugandan tweeted.

Five Red Pepper directors, Richard Tusiime, Johnson Musinguzi, James Mujuni, Patrick Mugumya and Arinaitwe Rugyendo as well as three senior editors namely: Ben Byarabaha, Tumusiime Francis and Richard Kintu are being held at the notorious Nalufenya detention centre on the shores of River Nile in Jinja as the Police investigates their source of the story about Ugandan government plotting to overthrow Rwandan government which run on Monday. The company premises were sealed off on Monday by Police and closed the publications of its newspapers and radio station Juice FM 103.4.