Prime
Monitor Publications under Police Siege
Daily Monitor Head office under police seige. Photo by Faisal Kasirye
14:00pm:
93.3 KFM and 90.3 DembeFM have been switched off-air as detectives continue to search the Monitor offices. The Monitor Publication Managing Director, Alex Asiimwe confirms the latest development. He says: “KFM has been switched off but i am informed that as soon as the search is over it will be back on air.”
11:00am
Police have besieged Monitor Publications limited head office in Namuwongo, causing tension among journalists and management.
Mr Alex Asimwe, the Monitor Publications Limited (MPL) managing director, said the situation is very ‘surprising and unfortunate’.
“We are seeing police men wielding guns but no one is giving us a communication on what is happening.” Mr Asimwe said. “But we are trying to make sure the situation normalizes as early as possible.”
Mr Tom Mshindi, the Chief Operating Officer, Nation Media Group (NMG), said the action was very surprising in a country where core discussions on freedom of expression are lively.
“We could have hoped for a prior communication before this happened but we didn’t get it,” Mr Mshindi added.
Other reports also indicate that the Red Pepper Newspaper, is also currently under police siege. Security sources say the state is cracking the whip over the media’s reporting of the frenzy surrounding President Museveni’s son Muhoozi Kainerugaba’s prospects for president – dubbed by Coordinator of Intelligence Services Gen. David Sejusa as “Muhoozi Project”.
