Ugandan pop star vows to fight on after arriving from US
KAMPALA, Uganda — Uganda’s pop star politician Bobi Wine vowed Thursday to continue his fight for more freedom in the country “or we shall die trying,” shortly after security forces took him into custody on his arrival from the United States after treatment for alleged torture.
The opposition lawmaker, who has emerged as a popular voice against longtime President Yoweri Museveni, one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders, was “unlawfully detained by military officers,” his U.S.-based lawyer Robert Amsterdam said on Twitter. National police chief Okoth Ochola, however, said he was taken to his home but was not under arrest.
The singer, who faces a treason charge that he denies, was driven to his residence outside the capital, Kampala, where hundreds of youthful supporters cheered and chanted as he climbed on top of a car and raised his fist.
“I didn’t know where they were taking me,” he later told reporters, describing security forces on his arrival. “They just grabbed me.”