Open Letter to President Yoweri Museveni

World Association of Newspapers.

Aug 23, 2005

Open Letter to President Yoweri Museveni

Your Excellency,

We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 100 countries, to welcome the decision of the Uganda Broadcasting Council to allow Radio KFM back on air but to express our serious concern at the prosecution of KFM journalist Andrew Mwenda on charges of sedition.

According to reports, in a programme broadcast on 10 August Mr Mwenda accused the government of transporting Sudanese Vice-President John Garang in a poor-quality helicopter and described you as a “coward” and a “failure”. Mr Garang died when Uganda’s presidential helicopter crashed on 30 July while taking Mr Garang to Sudan. The Uganda Broadcasting Council took Radio KFM off the air on 11 August.

Although the Broadcasting Council decided on 18 August to allow Radio KFM to return to the air, Mr Mwenda, who was arrested on 12 August and released on bail on 15 August, has been charged with sedition and faces a five-year prison sentence when he is tried on 29 August.

We respectfully call on you to do everything in your power to ensure that the sedition charges against Mr Mwenda are dropped and that KFM is permitted to discipline Mr Mwenda at its discretion.

We look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely,

Gavin O’Reilly President World Association of Newspapers

George Brock President World Editors Forum