Ugandan climate activists face charges after a month in maximum security jail

The 11 university students could be imprisoned for a year for protesting against the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline

Eleven Ugandan climate activists who were allegedly beaten and held arbitrarily in a notorious maximum security prison will appear in court on Wednesday charged with a colonial era anti-dissident offense, as reprisals continue against opponents of an internationally bankrolled oil pipeline.

If convicted, the 11 activists, all university students, face up to a year in jail. Four of them - Nicholas Lutabi, Jacob Lubega, Shafik Kalyango and Abdul Aziz Bwete - were allegedly arrested and beaten by police armed with guns, teargas and batons as they marched peacefully towards parliament in the capital city, Kampala, on 15 December.