CNN: Ugandan opposition leader arrested again

Kampala, Uganda (CNN) — Ugandan opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye was arrested again Thursday — the second time this week — during a “walk to work” campaign protesting the high rate of inflation as well as the increased cost of commodities such as fuel.

Besigye has vowed to “walk to work” to protest every Monday and Thursday, contending the government is manipulating prices for fuel and commodities.

Unlike prior weeks, Besigye drove from his home instead of walking Thursday after a group of women visited him in the early hours and pleaded for him not to walk because it would disrupt them trying to take their children from school for the Easter holidays.

Besigye said he would oblige and drove from his home in the Kampala suburb of Kasangati to the suburb of Kalerwe where he was surrounded by supporters.

Witnesses said there were so many people his car could not move and he got out and walked.
Riot police were quickly deployed and tear gas and rubber bullets were fired, according to his supporters.

In the ensuing chaos, Besigye was quickly put into a police van and taken away to the Wandegeya police station, his supporters said. A short while later, they said, a convoy left the police station with Besigye for a police station in the Kampala suburb of Bwaise.

Police spokesman Vincent Sekate said Besigye had been taken to court and ordered held until April 27 on a charge of “holding an unlawful assembly.”

Police spokeswoman Captain Judith Nabakooba said earlier that authorities have told Besigye it is legal for him to walk alone. But authorities have accused supporters who walked with Besigye of “inciting violence.”
In February, Besigye, who heads the Forum for Democratic Change party, lost in an election bid to replace President Yoweri Museveni, who has led the country since a rebel group with which he was aligned seized power in 1986. Besigye, a former doctor to Museveni, lost previous presidential bids in 2001 and 2006.
Journalist Tom Walsh contributed to this report