4 charged with murder after deaths in Ugandan protest

KAMPALA – A Ugandan court on Tuesday charged four people with the murder of three people during a protest that turned violent last week.

A demonstration in the capital, Kampala, last Thursday against a company’s plans to cut down part of a prized rain forest to expand its sugar plantation set off racial tensions between black Ugandans and those of Asian origin. Police reported that a mob stoned to death two people of Asian origin and two other people were also killed during the protest.None of the victims was believed to be connected to the company, a subsidiary of the Mehta Group, which is run by Ugandans of Indian descent.Chief Magistrate Margaret Tibulya on Tuesday charged three men with the murder of one man of Indian origin and another man, a security guard, with the murder of two other people.It is not clear why the charge sheet referred to three people killed when police had reported last week that four were killed.All suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges and will appear on April 30 in Uganda’s High Court, where all capital crimes are tried.Murder in Uganda carries the death penalty.Tibulya charged another 23 people, including two opposition lawmakers, with assembling unlawfully in downtown Kampala and conducting themselves, “in a manner that led to a breach of the peace and terror of the public.”They all pleaded not guilty.The 23 will next appear in court on May 15.Neither the prosecution nor defence lawyers made any statements in court.Later Tuesday, one of the lawyers for the 23 accused of assembling unlawfully said that the prosecution has a weak case.”These are just arbitrary arrests and they (the prosecution) seem to have had problems bringing charges.We are not too worried about the case,” Abdu Katuntu told The Associated Press.Earlier Tuesday, military police in Kampala used batons to attack opposition supporters at a news conference organised by opposition politicians to protest the detention of their colleagues, who were later charged in court.The military police fired tear gas and water canons to disperse the crowd and fired live bullets into the air.Police cordoned off Kampala’s main streets for the rest of the day, keeping a heavy presence in the city.Groups of men, shouting “We are the peacekeepers of Kampala,” and wielding big sticks patrolled Kampala’s streets in the presence of the police.One of them claimed that they were plainclothes policemen.Nampa-APPolice reported that a mob stoned to death two people of Asian origin and two other people were also killed during the protest.None of the victims was believed to be connected to the company, a subsidiary of the Mehta Group, which is run by Ugandans of Indian descent.Chief Magistrate Margaret Tibulya on Tuesday charged three men with the murder of one man of Indian origin and another man, a security guard, with the murder of two other people.It is not clear why the charge sheet referred to three people killed when police had reported last week that four were killed.All suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges and will appear on April 30 in Uganda’s High Court, where all capital crimes are tried.Murder in Uganda carries the death penalty.Tibulya charged another 23 people, including two opposition lawmakers, with assembling unlawfully in downtown Kampala and conducting themselves, “in a manner that led to a breach of the peace and terror of the public.”They all pleaded not guilty.The 23 will next appear in court on May 15.Neither the prosecution nor defence lawyers made any statements in court.Later Tuesday, one of the lawyers for the 23 accused of assembling unlawfully said that the prosecution has a weak case.”These are just arbitrary arrests and they (the prosecution) seem to have had problems bringing charges.We are not too worried about the case,” Abdu Katuntu told The Associated Press.Earlier Tuesday, military police in Kampala used batons to attack opposition supporters at a news conference organised by opposition politicians to protest the detention of their colleagues, who were later charged in court.The military police fired tear gas and water canons to disperse the crowd and fired live bullets into the air.Police cordoned off Kampala’s main streets for the rest of the day, keeping a heavy presence in the city.Groups of men, shouting “We are the peacekeepers of Kampala,” and wielding big sticks patrolled Kampala’s streets in the presence of the police.One of them claimed that they were plainclothes policemen.Nampa-AP