Timothy Kalyegira, the Editor of Uganda Records, an online paper has been remanded to Luzira prison for criminal libel.
Kalyegira was arrested this morning and arraigned before James Wambaya, Kampala City Court Grade II Magistrate, where he was charged.
Wambaya didn’t allow Kalyegira to enter any plea to the charges because his court lacks jurisdiction of the mater.
Prosecution alleges that on 12th and 16th July 2010, in Kampala District with intent to defame the person of the president, Kalyegira unlawfully published defamatory matter in the Uganda Records, an online paper.
Kalyegira was first arrested in August last year over sedition charges. Police interrogated his reports questioning with it was the Somali-based militants, the Al-Shabab, that bombed and killed at least 80 people in Kampala. The twin bombing occurred at Kyadondo Rugby Club and at Ethiopian Village Restaurant.
The arrest in August last year broke new ground where an online journalist was facing charges arising from the use of new media. However, police dropped the charges because they were scrapped by the constitutional court ruling.
Timothy Kalyegira, a former Daily Monitor columnist and current publisher of an online newspaper, will return to court on 6th June 2010 to take plea.
His lawyer, Ladislus Rwakafuzi says that this case may not hold water because questions legal question surrounding the case. He notes that determining the jurisdiction of an online publication may be difficult because Ugandan law says that a person must print the article for it to be classified under libel.
