By our reporter
Five (5) directors of Pepper Publications Ltd (RedPepper) are to face treason, offensive communication and publication of a story that is prejudicial to the security of a county. According to company Lawyer Denis Nyombi of Denis Nyombi and Co.Advocates, Arinaitwe Rugyendo, James Mujuni, Johnson Byarabaha Musinguzi, Patrick Mugumya and Richard Tusiime were made to record charge and caution statements on the above charges on Wednesday evening at their offices located in Namanve,a Kampala surbab and thereafter whisked away back Nalufenya-Jinja.
The other three jailed along are chief editor Ben.Byarabaha, Richard Kintu and Tumusiime Francis alias Tinywana all editors of Redpepper.
“By close of business yesterday, my clients were made to record charge and caution statements on the following charges; Treason, Annoying the person of Gen.Salim Saleh, Gen. Henry Tumukunde, Offensive communication and publication of a story that’s prejudicial to the security of the country and as soon as they finished responding to the charge and caution statements, they were thrown back into police vans and driven back to Nalufenya” Nyombi informed this reporter on phone on Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, the search continued yesterday for day 2 at the company’s Head offices in Namanve. On Wednesday Anti-Terrorism squad swung into action and mounted a search both at RP offices and the homes of all the directors and 3 editors in now in detention since Tuesday. According to their lawyer, Laptops, desktop computers, USB cables, phones among others were some of the items police confiscated from their homes in various locations in Seeta,Namugongo,Bweyogerere,Namanve,Naaly and Mukono.
Women/Children nickers checked in search of information:
A wife to one of the 5 directors (names withheld) intimated to this source that even her nickers and those of her children were ‘turned upside down’ looking for ‘information’!
“Obusajja bukebera buli, n’obuntu bwange n’obwabana bange babukuttemu n’e babukasuka mbu banonya byama, eeh maama”! She narrated in a local dialect-Luganda to mean the above.
The Pepper bosses were arrested on Tuesday and taken to Nalufenya-Jinja for reportedly running a story titled “Museveni Plotting to over throw Kagame-Rwanda” in their daily. This, according to security gurus jeopardizes the regional and national security.
