Opposition tasks govt on murder of Muslim clerics report

Kampala.

Opposition Justice Forum Party (JEEMA) has asked government to produce a report on the murder and arrests of Muslim clerics across the county.
Mr Hussein Kyanjo, the former Secretary General of the party, while addressing the media yesterday, said many Muslim clerics have spent years on remand without appearing before court and yet there is no report incriminating them.
“Our laws grant suspects the right to have legal representation as well as the right to be visited by their family members, however if the suspect is a Muslim it can take almost forever to see your lawyer or even a relative,” Mr Kyanjo said.
His comments come after the police last week raided a mosque near Usafi Market, killing two suspects and arresting 36 others. The police also said they rescued 94 children and 18 women who had been held hostage.
Mr Kyanjo said: “The laws are clear on the right for bail but for the Muslims, different sets of laws seem to be applied. He said they are denied the right to bail and when they manage to secure one, they are immediately rearrested and fresh charges slapped against them.
He said all the Muslims are now demanding that the government investigates these cases against them and make the report public.

State behind
He added that their investigations of the same cases show that the state is behind many of the events and offers heavy financial incentives to those involved in the act.
On the Usafi mosque raid, Kyanjo said, they want the authority to follow the proper procedure of investigation and produce a report not to tell lies that they were there for many years and they did nothing.
“We shall only be sure when the investigations are done and the report is out, the trick is that if we all keep silent and say may be they are criminals it will happen again to another Muslim section, that is why we are concerned,” Mr Kyanjo said.
Last year, police raided Nakasero mosque and arrested 11 Muslims over acts of criminality. During the same month another mosque in Kiwatule was raided and 13 more Muslims, including eight Indian missionaries, were arrested but later, they were released with police saying they had no case to answer.