Ugandan pipeline opponent found badly beaten on the side of the road, says lawyer [Video]

A Ugandan activist was abducted from the streets of Kampala, then found nearly a week later badly beaten by the side of the road outside the city, say his lawyer and his employer.

Stephen Kwikiriza, who is recovering from his injuries after being released from hospital on Wednesday, is an outspoken opponent of a controversial oil pipeline project in Uganda.

His lawyer, Kato Tumusiime, says his client was targeted for his activism. 

“We actually believe that it was the army, under the agencies they operate with, that abducted him,” Tumusiime told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

The Uganda People’s Defence Force did not respond to a CBC request for comment before deadline. In a statement to the Guardian newspaper, a spokesperson denied the allegations and accused Kwikiriza of faking his abduction. 

Human rights groups, including Oxfam and Human Rights Watch, say Kwikiriza’s abduction comes amid a brutal crackdown on pipeline opponents in the country.

The Observatory for the Protection of …