[UAH] STATEMENT BY MINISTER OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, H. ONEK: R PEPPER, DAILY MONITOR NOT CLOSED

STATEMENT BY HON. MINISTER OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS, H. ONEK ON THE SEARCH
OF THE PREMISES OF THE DAILY MONITOR PUBLICATIONS AND THE RED PEPPER
PUBLICATIONS

1) The ongoing search by the Police of premises of the Daily Monitor
publications and the Red Pepper publications is part of Police
investigations into the letter that appeared in the Daily Monitor
dated 7th May 2013, purportedly written by Gen. Sejusa to the Director
General, Internal Security Organization, (ISO), and copied to a number
of senior security officers, as well as investigation of documents,
purportedly originating from Gen. Sejusa, that were published by the
Red Pepper.

We wish to state from the outset, that in conducting this search,
indeed, in carrying out this investigation, the Police have acted
professionally, and within the law.

2) On Daily Monitor publications, the interest of the Police, and
other sister agencies is to get the letter published by the Daily
Monitor, and, given its security classification, investigate how the
Daily Monitor got it, and possible violations of the law that may have
been committed, especially, in respect of the Official Secrets Act,
and the UPDF Act.

Logically, at the beginning of the investigation, the interest of the
Police was to establish the authenticity of the letter published by
the Daily Monitor. Police inquired from the Director General, ISO who
stated that he never received the letter. The Chief of Defence Forces
(CDF) as well as the Director General, External Security Organization
(ESO), to whom the letter was supposed to have been copied to, also,
did not receive their copies.

Evidently, at that stage, it was only the Daily Monitor, who was in
possession of the letter. Accordingly, the CID then summoned the
Managing Editor of Daily Monitor publications, and the journalist who
authored the story in which the letter was published, to assist in
getting the letter as well as disclose the source of the letter. They
refused to cooperate with the CID.

Subsequently, the CID applied, and got a court order under sec.38 of
the Press and Journalist Act, to compel them to cooperate. In
addition, the CID got information that the Daily Monitor publications,
was in possession of other documents in relation to the contents of
the letter, which they intended to publish. They, then, in addition,
sought and got, from court, a search warrant to search the premises of
the Daily Monitor publications. The search warrant was served and,
duly acknowledged by the management of the Daily Monitor.

The search began on Monday, 20th May 2013, and, is, still ongoing. I
wish to clarify that Daily Monitor publications, KFM, and Dembe FM
have not been closed. They have been asked to halt operations to
facilitate the search and investigations on their premises. Indeed,
from the moment the search began, the premises were declared a scene
of crime under the custody of the Police. Consequently, Monitor
Publications, KFM and Dembe FM (which are on the premises) had to be
asked to temporarily stop operations so that routine activities and
traffic in the premises associated with their business do not
interfere with Police work. The search will go on until the letter and
those other documents relating to the letter are found. Police have
asked the management of the Daily Monitor to cooperate so that they
expedite the exercise. Indeed, the duration of the search depends on
whether or not the Daily Monitor cooperates with the Police in their
investigations. Todate, they have declined to cooperate.

3) We should point out that this is not the first time Police is
carrying out a search. In the course of investigations, Police
sometimes finds it necessary, as in this case, to carry out searches.
Incidentally, even in this particular case, Police, earlier, carried
out a search of the offices of Gen Sejusa in the presence of his
lawyers without any incident, and the premises remain a scene of
crime. It is, therefore, surprising that anybody should make issue of
this routine procedure in investigations when it comes to searching
media houses. Are media houses governed by laws other than those that
the rest of society are governed?!

4) On the Red Pepper publications, the Police has initiated
investigations into publication of documents, purportedly originating
from Gen Sejusa, and published in successive stories in the Red Pepper
for possible violation of criminal laws. Similar to the case of the
Daily Monitor, the Police sought and got a search warrant to look for
these and other related documents as well as stories which violate the
laws of Uganda.

5) Noteworthy, while the Press and Journalist Act, sec. 2 gives the
right to publish a news paper, that right is not absolute. It is
qualified by sec.3 of the Act, which provides that the right does not
absolve any person from complying with other laws. Even without that
section, the right to publish a news paper cannot mean that
journalists and publishers, in doing so, are free to commit crimes.

The Police is committed to the rule of law and to respect the rights
and freedoms of the media, as well as other persons and groups.
However, at the same time, we have a constitutional mandate to ensure
that the laws of Uganda are respected and upheld.

6) In conclusion, let me emphasize and assure all of you that the
Daily Monitor publications, KFM, Dembe FM, as well as the Red Pepper
have not been closed.

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