All journalists ask difficult questions
Jun 23, 2005
A New Vision freelance journalist was arrested for criminal trespass and held on remand in Soroti while the case was being heard. This was a gross abuse of justice.
A New Vision freelance journalist was arrested for criminal trespass and held on remand in Soroti while the case was being heard. This was a gross abuse of justice.
The journalist has now been released after paying a fine of 50,000/-.
On Tuesday David Enyaku went to interview the Soroti Town Clerk Mackay Odele about alleged double allocation of plots in the municipality.
Odele initially agreed to being interviewed but then ordered him out of his office when he did not like ‘unreasonable’ questions.
The police charge sheet accused the journalist of having “entered his office and remained there for long with intent to annoy himâ€.
This whole incident is farcical. Assuming that the journalist was indeed asking unreasonable questions and was refusing to leave, the town clerk could have just called police or security officer and had the journalist escorted off the premises.
Having him arrested by the police has brought both his office and the CID into disrepute.
How can you be guilty of trespass when you were originally invited into the premises? Doesn’t criminal trespass refer to prohibited places like military installations rather than public places like Town Council offices?
This looks very much like a trumped-up charge designed to intimidate a journalist.
It was surely wrong of the magistrate to keep Enyaku in jail until the case was concluded. If it was not for the front page New Vision story, he might still be there. While the case was being heard, the magistrate should have born in mind that it is the social responsibility of all journalists to ask difficult questions. This is what journalists are supposed to do. Enyaku was only doing his job, whether the town clerk liked it or not.
The town clerk and the arresting police officers should themselves now be subject to disciplinary proceedings for failing to respect the constitutional right to freedom of information.
The journalist has now been released after paying a fine of 50,000/-.
On Tuesday David Enyaku went to interview the Soroti Town Clerk Mackay Odele about alleged double allocation of plots in the municipality.
Odele initially agreed to being interviewed but then ordered him out of his office when he did not like ‘unreasonable’ questions.
The police charge sheet accused the journalist of having “entered his office and remained there for long with intent to annoy himâ€.
This whole incident is farcical. Assuming that the journalist was indeed asking unreasonable questions and was refusing to leave, the town clerk could have just called police or security officer and had the journalist escorted off the premises.
Having him arrested by the police has brought both his office and the CID into disrepute.
How can you be guilty of trespass when you were originally invited into the premises? Doesn’t criminal trespass refer to prohibited places like military installations rather than public places like Town Council offices?
This looks very much like a trumped-up charge designed to intimidate a journalist.
It was surely wrong of the magistrate to keep Enyaku in jail until the case was concluded. If it was not for the front page New Vision story, he might still be there. While the case was being heard, the magistrate should have born in mind that it is the social responsibility of all journalists to ask difficult questions. This is what journalists are supposed to do. Enyaku was only doing his job, whether the town clerk liked it or not.
The town clerk and the arresting police officers should themselves now be subject to disciplinary proceedings for failing to respect the constitutional right to freedom of information.