Press freedom panel Committee to Protect Journalists on Tuesday condemned the weekend arrest of three Ugandan journalists for publishing inflammatory reports.
Police on Saturday detained Andrew Mwenda, publisher of the bi-monthly magazine Independent, consulting editor Odobo Bichachi and journalist John Njoroge and accused them of "possessing seditious materials" and "publishing inflammatory materials," according to their lawyer Bob Kasango.
The trio were later freed on bail for the offences linked to two stories published in this week's edition of the Independent that were critical of the government.
"One story features an interview with an army deserter who discussed claims of secret detentions and torture by Ugandan military intelligence and implicated top officials in atrocities during Uganda's civil war," CPJ said in a statement.
"We are concerned by this raid against The Independent and Andrew Mwenda," said CPJ's Africa Program Coordinator Tom Rhodes.
"Ugandan authorities have a history of prosecuting Mwenda based on his critical journalism. We call on the authorities to restore all equipment and possessions seized from the journalists and the newspaper immediately."
Mwenda is an outspoken journalist and former radio talk show host who lost his job with The Monitor daily after publishing controversial articles on the country's political life.
Uganda has been criticised for its poor human rights record but is reputed to offer a relatively free press environment compared to some of its neighbours.
