Two legislators charged after deadly Uganda forest protest

Apr 17, 2007, 11:41 GMT

Kampala - Ugandan police charged two members of parliament (MPs) with incitement, after an environmental protest had turned violent leaving three people dead, their lawyer said Tuesday.

An Indian was among those killed.

The two opposition MPs, Hussein Kyanjo and Beatrice Anywar were among the 32 people arrested following anti-Asian riots last Thursday. The executive director of Uganda's main environmental lobby group, Frank Muramuzi, was also detained.

'They have been charged by police with two counts, one of them is incitement to commit murder and the other is incitement to cause violence,' lawyer Yusuf Nsibambi told reporters.

The legislators were to appear in court Tuesday.

The demonstration was called to oppose a government plan to axe part of the country's largest forest reserve to pave way for an expansion of an Asian-owned sugar plantation.

Police used tear gas and live bullets to disperse the rioters who turned on the Asians, attacked them, looted some of their shops and lynched an Indian.

Two other people died in the fracas including one shot by a security guard.

Uganda has had a troubled relationship with its Asian community, since former military dictator Idi Amin used them as a scapegoat for his country's woes and banished them in the 1970s. Many returned in the early nineties.

East Africa has a sizable Indian community, which was brought to the region by British colonialists in the late 19th century and remained, becoming a driving force behind the East African economy.

The Asians who had closed their premises and sought police protection during the riot, re-opened their businesses over the weekend.

However, apparently fearing a backlash, the government deployed scores of military and police personnel in central Kampala Tuesday.

Tear-gas tanks are moving along the streets, and public movements have been restricted around the central police station where the arrested are being detained. No incidents of violence have been reported so far.