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Uganda’s privately owned Observer newspaper has tweeted photos which, it says, show police chasing away journalists to block them from covering a high-profile trial.
The Observer reports that the man on trial is a former police chief, Muhammad Kirumira, who the police force had previously accused of torture, extortion, corruption, bribery, unlawful arrests and excessive use of authority.
He denied the charges earlier this month and quit his job but the police refused to accept his resignation.
Mr Kirumira is said to be popular with the public, earning the nickname “the spirit of the nation”.
He is known to use Facebook to criticise his colleagues, saying they are to blame for some of the criminal activities in the country.
#Journalism increasingly becoming a crime in #Uganda. Here, journalists being arrested from Police headquarters, Naguru. They'd gone to cover the trial of former Buyende district police commander Muhammad Kirumira #PressFreedom #PressFreedomUG #media pic.twitter.com/F057ZlxD5G
— The Observer (@observerug) February 22, 2018
