By Ronaldo N Kalangi
Robert Kyagulanyi, an independent Ugandan Member of Parliament best known as Bobi Wine, will speak at the National Press Club on Thursday, September 6, to address his current condition after suffering torture and abuse at the hands of Ugandan security operatives, after his August 14th arrest and the treason charges which followed suit.
Examining the case with Bobi will be his international lawyer Robert Amsterdam.
The 36 yr old self-made Afropop star was elected as an independent Member of Parliament for Kyadondo East in 2017. As an outspoken critic of President Yoweri Museveni, Bobi has captivated the nation’s youth, many of whom have felt excluded and alienated by Uganda’s political establishment.
Under the SFC operatives and police, Bobi Wine said he was subjected to extreme abuse and torture. According to his own account, Bobi said they beat, punched and kicked him with their boots. No part of his body was spared. They hit his eyes, mouth and nose. They hit his elbows and knees. By the end of this abuse, Bobi was unable to stand on his own, with significant injuries for which he is being treated by US doctors, he narrated in his own missive he released recently after arriving in US.
Though he was eventually released on bail and allowed to travel for medical treatment, Bobi Wine still faces treason charges that carry death penalty on conviction. His attorney Robert Amsterdam has called for greater international pressure to protect human rights in Uganda, and specifically to single out the officials responsible for alleged abuses under the Global Magnitsky Act legislation.
