Tuesday, 25 February 2014 - 11:07
Uganda "mailbomb letters" from Schiedam promoted Catalonia independence
The mailbombs that were sent from Schiedam to Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni and other leading politicians in the African nation, contained “innocent” promotional folders.
“It looks completely innocent; a nice folder in five colors. There’s even a CD-Rom,” Alphons Hennekens, the Dutch Ambassador in Uganda, said in an interview with newswire Novum. The nine suspected letter bombs had caused quite some commotion in the African nation. The suspicious parcels came from P. O Box 7007, 3109AA Schiedem and were picked by police from the post office.
Aside from President Museveni, they had been addressed to Museveni’s brother-in-law Sam Kutesa, opposition leader Kizza Besigye, Kampala Mayor Erias Lukwago and Uganda People’s Congress party leader Olara Otunnu.
Laboratorial examinations showed later that the contents were but promotional folders championing independence for the Spanish region of Catalonia. “The ink smelled a bit, but that can happen. It is more disturbing to some people than to others,” Ambassador Hennekens said.
The campaign folders were produced by Catalonia Calling, a crowdfunding campaign that aims to create awareness for the region’s efforts urge for autonomy. Catalonia is holding a referendum about its constitutional future later this year. Sympathizers are encouraged to send the folders to as many politicians worldwide.
The Netherlands will now investigate why someone in Schiedam had mailed the letters to the Ugandan politicians.