Confinement
Ugandan government withdraws troops from Bobi Wine’s house
Ugandan soldiers stood down their positions around the residence of opposition leader Bobi Wine on Tuesday, a day after a court-ordered an end to the confinement of the presidential runner-up. Wine, a popstar-turned-MP whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, had been under de-facto house arrest at his home outside the capital Kampala since he returned from voting in January 14’s election. For 11 days heavily armed soldiers and police officers surrounding the property had prevented members of Wine’s household, including his wife Barbie, from leaving their compound, as well as denying access to visitors. But security forces withdrew from around Wine’s house on Tuesday, allowing the opposition leader to convene with newly-elected MPs from his National Unity Platform (NUP) for the first time sin...
Egyptian rights group head hopes release will help other prisoners
The head of a leading Egyptian human rights group who was held for two weeks on terrorism charges said Saturday he hoped the campaign to secure his release would help others still jailed on similar Allegations. Activists saw the detention last month of Gasser Abdel Razek, executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), and two of the group’s other staff, as the latest escalation of a broad crackdown on political dissent under President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. Egypt’s foreign ministry had said EIPR was operating illegally, an accusation the group denies. There has been no official statement from public prosecutors since Abdel Razek’s release, and officials could not be reached for comment. The arrests, which came after EIPR hosted a briefing on human rights for 13 s...
Man paraded naked as punishment for Facebook post
Police have arrested five brothers after a man was paraded naked in the streets allegedly in punishment for a social media post. India Police spokesman, Hirendra Chaudhary, said the 38-year-old victim was kidnapped on Tuesday by the brothers, assaulted and made to walk 45 minutes around the western town of Khambhaliya with no clothes on. “An investigation revealed that the victim… used to do Facebook live videos on regular basis. “On Sunday, in a Facebook Live video (the man) made serious allegations against the five brothers and claimed that they were involved in criminal activities”, Chaudhary said The brothers were charged with illegal confinement, assault, use of criminal force with intent to dishonour person, criminal conspiracy, obscenity, and other offences. Local police said that t...
