By Our Reporter
Turkish ambassador to Uganda HE.Kerem Alp has pulled down hopes of those who were waiting for the deportation of ‘toxic’ blogger Fred Lumbuye after noting that his country does not interfere in the internal affairs of other countries and will not interfere with that of Uganda.
“Turkey does not condone crimes but accords full rights to any person arrested within Turkey, and so will be the case for the said Ugandan,” said Kerem Alp.
Fred Lumbuye, a critic of the Ugandan government, is accused of starting false rumours that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has died.
Alp made the remarks while meeting Muwada Nkunyingi, MP for Kyadondo County East, who presented a petition on the safety of Lumbuye, a supporter of the opposition party National Unity Platform (NUP).
Muwada said Turkey has stood for the oppressed on many fronts, claiming that it would be “risky” to hand over Lumbuye to Ugandan authorities, citing what he called the country’s bad human rights record.
“Uganda has the death penalty, and it would be in breach of international law to honor any request by Uganda to risk a deportation of Lumbuye,” he said.
Zahara Luyirika, speaker for the Kampala Capital Authority, responsible for the running of Uganda’s capital, previously told media that Lumbuye should not be repatriated to Uganda because he claimed, it is a state that tortures its citizens.
Lumbuye’ss arrest in Turkey comes one month after Museveni directed security operatives to track down Ugandans who allegedly use social media to spread fake news.
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