By Andrew Irumba
Kampala: Popular musician turned politician Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine was this afternoon charged with staging what the state terms as illegal demonstrations, following the 2018 Ant-Social media tax protests that rocked several parts of the country.
Bobi Wine, who is also the Kyadondo East Member of Parliament, appeared before Buganda Road Court, after being arrested from Kampala on his way to Kibuli CIID headquarters, where he had been summoned by police. Shortly after his arrest, which involved police firing teargas and rubber bullets to disperse thousands of his supporters, Bobi Wine was whisked to Nagalama Police Station, where he was charged with Disobedience of Statutory Duty and detained for several hours, before being driven to Buganda Road court. According to charges lodged against Bobi Wine, Prosecution alleges that on July 11th, 2018, Bobi Wine and others still at large staged unlawful demonstrations and meetings in Kampala “without notifying the police and following the laid out criteria of coordinating and cooperating with the Police.”
However, Bobi Wine, through his lawyers led by Counsel Asuman Basairwa, requested court to halt the proceedings because of the absence of his sureties. Counsel Basarirwa told court that all his client’s sureties had been locked out of the court by security. The presiding magistrate Esther Nahirya thereafter ordered for the matter to be stood over for about 45 minutes to have the court security relaxed. (https://studio928.net/)
But later when court resumed, the magistrate denied Bobi bail and remanded him to Luzira prisons until May 2nd, 2019, when he will appear again in court for another mention of his case. Court which was heavily surrounded by policemen and soldiers was attended by several People Power supporters, Bobi’s wife Barbra Itungo, and numerous opposition politicians.
