Julian Friesinger, a German National was this week detained by the Internal Security Organization (ISO) and was accused of inciting the public in Lira to rise up and remove the government of President Yoweri Museveni. Friesinger, was taken to the ISO headquarters for interrogation, before being handed over to the German Embassy in Uganda.
ISO boss, Col. Kaka Bagyenda says Friesinger was engaged in illegal activities.
“Julian Friesinger was arrested for engaging in illegal activities. He claims he is a student from Germany, who is researching about Uganda. But he came to Uganda on a tourist visa and has been passing around as a journalist. These are very contradictory statements,” Bagyenda said.
Friesinger maintains that he is a PhD student at the University of Bremen in Germany, and only came to do research in Uganda.
A quick scan online shows that Julian Friesinger is a research associate at the University of Bremen.
https://www.iniis.uni-bremen.de/persons/julian-friesinger/cv/
Sources at ISO say he arrived in Uganda on January 18,2020 through the border with Kenya. He came on a tourist visa. It is not unusual for undercover operatives to come under the guise of other professions, ISO claims.
After receiving intelligence information, ISO picked interest in Friesinger and started tracking him up to Lira where he was seen in the company of People Power supporters inciting the public.
People Power however denies that Julian Friesinger is involved in their activities.
“Julian Friesinger is researching on the politics of Uganda. He came and asked us for interviews and we gave them to him. Among the people he interviewed was Bobi Wine and other politicians,” Joel Senyonyi, official spokesperson for People Power says.
A few months ago, Senyonyi was himself a guest of some organizations in Germany, where is reported to have gone for training along with other youthful activists from other parts of the world.
