Court charges at least 42 Ugandan youths over anti-graft protest

KAMPALA - A Ugandan magistrate's court has charged at least 42 youths for offences allegedly committed during a banned anti-corruption protest on Tuesday, and remanded them in custody.

Protesters marched on different streets in the capital Kampala on Tuesday shouting slogans and holding placards denouncing corruption by lawmakers.

At least 42 protesters were charged and remanded when they appeared at a magistrate's court in Kampala late on Tuesday, Bernard Oundo, president of Uganda Law Society, who was heading a team of lawyers representing the suspects, said on Wednesday.

The charges outlined various offences including being "idle and disorderly" and being a "common nuisance", the charge sheet produced in court said. They pleaded not guilty and were ordered to return to court at different dates between July 30 and August 6.

New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch said the arrests demonstrated the government of President Yoweri Museveni's "lack of respect for people's right to protest and express themselves."

"Instead of being arrested and blocked from protesting, those people should have been given a platform and listened to," Oryem Nyeko, senior Africa researcher at HRW said.

The police spokesperson did not answer repeated calls for comment.

Opposition leaders and rights activists say embezzlement and misuse of government funds are widespread in Uganda. They have long accused Museveni of failing to prosecute corrupt senior officials who are politically loyal or related to him.

Museveni has repeatedly denied condoning corruption and says whenever there is sufficient evidence, culprits including lawmakers and even ministers are prosecuted.

Ahead of Tuesday's march the military and police deployed heavily across the city seeking to deter the protest.

-(Reuters)