Awori to fight Terrorism Bill

By John KakandeSAMIA BUGWE North MP Aggrey Awori has said he would table a Private Member’s Bill to amend the Terrorism Bill and scrap sections that pose danger to journalists. The Terrorism Bill provides that any person who publishes news or other materials that promote terrorism shall be liable to death on conviction. It originally provided for imprisonment for 10 years but was amended by Parliament to provide for a death sentence.“The Bill is going to terrorise you people (journalists). If you went out of the country and met a rebel leader who is considered by the Government to be a terrorist, you could be arrested if you interviewed him,” Awori told journalists at the parliamentary building yesterday. He said the Terrorism Bill further poses danger to the Movement critics and the political parties. “They can plant things at your headquarters and charge you with terrorism,” he argued.He said he would wait for the Bill to come into force before tabling a Private Member’s Bill for an amendment. Awori said it was an oversight on the part of Parliament to pass provisions that impose a death penalty for publishing news or other materials that promote terrorism. He said President Yoweri Museveni was unlikely to return the Bill to Parliament as requested by an international media organisation based in France, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), recently.RSF petitioned Museveni not to assent to the Terrorism Bill until it has been revisited. It has not been forwarded to the President.Section 11(1) of the Bill states: “Any person who establishes, runs or supports any institution for; (a) promoting terrorism; (b) publishing and disseminating news or material that promotes terrorism; or (c) training or mobilising any group of persons or recruiting persons for carrying out terrorism or mobilising funds for purpose of terrorism, commits an offense and shall be liable on conviction to suffer death.”