JUNE 21, 2005
Posted: June 24, 2005
David Enyaku, The New Vision
IMPRISONED, LEGAL ACTION
Enyaku, a reporter working for the state-owned New Vision in the eastern town of Soroti, was detained and charged with “criminal trespassing” when he went to interview a town official.
The New Vision reported that Mackay Opolot Odele, the town clerk, ordered Enyaku arrested as the journalist tried to interview him about land allocation in Soroti. Enyaku was detained for two nights in a police cell before being brought to court on June 23. According to William Pike, chief executive officer of The New Vision, Enyaku was found guilty of trespassing and fined 50,000 shillings (about US$29) before being released the same day.
The charge sheet against Enyaku read that the journalist had “entered [Odele’s] office and remained there for long with intent to annoy him,” The New Vision reported.