NICHOLAS OPIYO! CSOs Tell Govt: Rethink approach around criminalizing peaceful activism

By Francis Otucu

The Civil Society Organizations have expressed worry following Tuesday arrest of human rights lawyer, Nicholas Opiyo.

Opiyo was arrested by plain cloth men and driven to the Special Investigations Division, Kireka.

A charge of money laundering is a tag to his arrest.

However, according to the Civil Society Organizations, they are worried and opposed to the arrest of Opiyo.

“From the timing, his arrest can be interpreted as part of the clampdown aimed at compromising civic space and the movement for democracy in Uganda,” Crispin Kaheru, a democracy activist, told this news site adding, “We remain worried and opposed to the arrest.”

Kaheru explained, warning; “This comes off as a well-organized and premeditated plot to obliterate human rights defenders, democracy activists, journalists, the opposition and other people who may be working towards holding government accountable for its actions or in-actions. Limiting the space for peaceful activism undermines Uganda’s peace and stability efforts.”

To this, he said, government should immediately rethink its approach around criminalizing peaceful activism in whichever way it may present itself.