Ugandan police face supporters of pop star Bobi Wine | New



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Ugandan police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at dozens of protesters who took to the streets to protest the arrest of MP Bobi Wine, a member of the opposition.

Crowds of people held rallies in several suburbs of the capital, Kampala, on Tuesday, a day after the latest arrest of the politician, according to an AFP journalist.

"There are clashes between the police and young people who threw stones at the police advance, several people were injured and we took some to the Mulago hospital," he said. Praise Turyebwa, head of the Kampala Red Cross, at the AFP news agency.

In a statement, Ugandan police said that there was a minor incident "where unruly young people tried to demonstrate" but that the situation had been contained.

Local TV stations broadcast images of burning fires in the middle of major roads, causing traffic jams around the Ugandan capital.

Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, was arrested on Monday just two days after being briefly placed under house arrest after being arrested while he was going to a concert in his nightclub.

One of his lawyers told AFP that he had been placed in pre-trial detention until May 2, following a protest that would have been illegal in 2018.

Amnesty International on Tuesday called for his immediate release.

"The Ugandan authorities must immediately release Bobi Wine and stop using the law in a frenzied manner to silence him by accusing him of criticizing the government," said the regional director of Amnesty International, Seif Magango.

"It is not a crime for Bobi Wine to organize a concert or organize an event, it is a right enshrined in Ugandan law and international law."

The singer, who entered parliament in 2017 and has become a prominent critic of President Yoweri Museveni, has struck a chord with young Ugandans with her songs about social justice.

The authorities have repeatedly prevented him from performing in public.

The rapper made headlines after an arrest last year and torture was attributed to Ugandan security forces in detention. The government denies the charges.

One of his songs contains the lyrics "Freedom Fighters Become Dictators", while others suggest that Museveni stayed in power too long.

Museveni, 74, has headed Uganda since he came to power as head of a rebel army in 1986. He intends to run for a sixth term in 2021.

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