Ugandan YouTuber missing since detention in Turkey one month ago

Ugandan YouTuber Fred Lumbuye, known for his oppositional views toward his home country's government, has not been heard from since his detention in Turkey about a month ago.

Thursday September 09 2021 10:48 am

Hacı Bişkin - Meral Candan / DUVAR

Ugandan YouTuber Fred Lumbuye has been missing in Turkey since getting detained by the police a month ago.

Lumbuye moved to Turkey in 2013 to distance himself from his home country's administration that he's critical of.

He faces 15 different charges in Uganda, including conducting propaganda, encouraging violence and creating hostile content.

The blogger's friends Melissa and Umar said that they were worried for Lumbuye's life, noting that a group of Ugandan attorneys released a statement that the blogger had been deported after his detention.

However, Lumbuye's friends suspect that he's still in Turkey, and are concerned about his whereabouts and wellbeing.

"We last spoke with Fred in August. He was in his home in Aksaray. He said 'Someone's on my tail' and he left his apartment," Lumbuye's friends said.

Lumbuye's friends never heard from him after he told them he left his home in August, which makes them suspect he was repatriated, in which case they think he will be executed by the state.

"We were told he was in the Uganda Embassy in Turkey after a while, but we think he was repatriated because we haven't heard from him since then," said Melissa and Umar.

A deputy from the Ugandan opposition, Nkunyingi Muawada said on social media on Aug. 31 that he had confirmed Lumbuye was in Turkey in a meeting with Turkish Ambassador Fikret Kerem Alp.

"Lumbuye is in Turkey but he's not in a detention center, he's in an immigration center," the deputy said.

Another claim about Lumbuye's whereabouts is that he's being held at a repatriation center because his Turkish visa expired, creating concern among his friends about his well-being.

Meanwhile, the Uganda Embassy refused to respond to an inquiry about Lumbuye's whereabouts.

Pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP) deputy and staunch human rights defender Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu also presented a series of parliamentary inquiries to the Turkish Interior Ministry, asking whether Lumbuye's detention was conducted within their authority.

The deputy also inquired about the official reason for Lumbuye's detention, whether Interpol was involved in the detention and about his health.