By Charles Katabalwa/ Umoja Standard.
Last week on Thursday Unknown goons coming from inside the opposition party turned guns on journalists who had gone to cover a press briefing by the party chairman, Wasswa Birigwa and beat them mercilessly whereas some of their gadgets and phones were also damaged.
Diana Nandudu, the Program and Legal Officer of HRNJ-U says that though they heard a meeting between the victims and FDC leadership, the network will ensure that all the assaulted journalists get justice.
“As HRNJ were are ready to go to court but asulted journalists have not yet given us go ahead because they are still waiting for the results coming from the meeting they held ” she said
She disclosed that ” it is very good for anyone to solve matters outside the court because it saves time although it can give chance to other bad people to hurt journalists but when matters solved into court it sets a precident that limts anybody to cause harm to journalists” say Nandudu
Meanwhile some of victims such as Balikudembe Joseph of CBS fm Moses Waiswa of Busoga One FM. confirms to have had a dialogue meeting with the FDC President Patrick Amuriat, the Uganda Journalists Association (UJA) leadership and all greed on certain things including compensation of damaged gadgets and payment of medical bills among others although the party has not yet given it’s standing.
On the same presser Robert Ssempala the Executive Director of HRNJ- Ug has condermed the continued attacks and violation of journalists rights in Uganda saying between 1 January 2023 and 26th July 2023 they have so far recorded 16 cases of assault,9 confiscated gadgets 2 threatening violence,10 arrests and 6 malicious damage to property against journalists occasioned by the police, army and community members ,all 43 cases are directly to media work.