KAMPALA, Uganda / NAIROBI, Kenya
Shortly after being released by a military court on Thursday, the Ugandan MP and pop star known as Bobi Wine was re-arrested and charged with treason.
After being released by an army court martial in the northern district of Gulu, Robert Kyagulanyi -- Wine's given name -- was whisked to a civil court where faces treason charges along with 33 others, including Kassiano Wadri, who won last week’s by-election in the northern Arua municipality.
In a tweet, Nicholas Opiyo, one of Wine’s lawyers, said, “The charade, pretense and wanton abuse of Bobi’s rights by the army has ended.”
He added, “Now we can embark on a civilian court to get justice. #FreeBobiwine.”
Kyagulanyi has been under military custody since Aug. 14 for allegedly leading a group of people to pelt Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s convoy with stones ahead of the by-election. Wine’s driver Yasin Kawuma was shot dead in the melee, with score of others surviving bullet wounds.
Speaking on the incident, Museveni said, “We went to the bush to fight for the right to make political decisions by Ugandans without intimidation by word or action. Anybody who threatens this will have himself to blame.”
On Monday, Wine’s supporters took to the streets around the country leading to several arrests and injuries -- including reporters -- reportedly at the hands of the police.
Kyagulanyi and his co-accused are due to return to court on Aug. 30.
-Protests in Kenya
Early Thursday, in Nairobi, the capital of Uganda’s larger neighbor Kenya, hundreds of Kenyans joined their counterparts from Uganda demanding that Museveni release Wine.
Activists from groups such as Pawa 254 Kenya, the Law Society of Kenya, and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights along with celebrities such as Kenya’s Sauti Sol band also rallied to push the Kenyan government not to keep silent in the spirit of pan-Africanism.
Activist Boniface Mwangi told Anadolu Agency, “We are here in solidarity with the people of Uganda to ensure all charges against Bobi Wine are dropped, including the treason charges that they are now accusing him of.”
He added, “Museveni is afraid of this young man because after 34 years in power, he is going to fall. Bobi Wine represents millions of East Africans and Africans who are tired of bad leadership, corruption, and dictatorship, and that is why we are here to voice our frustration.”
Kenyan MPs have threatened to take protests to Uganda if the charges facing the legislator are not dropped.
