By Francis Kwera

KAMPALA (Reuters) - Three Ugandan journalists denied sedition charges in court on Friday over articles in their magazine that accused the military of rights abuses and graft.

Security officers raided the bi-monthly The Independent on April 26 and arrested founder and managing editor Andrew Mwenda, consulting editor Odobo Bichachi and journalist John Njoroge.

"It is the government of Uganda which is guilty of torture and war crimes against its own people," Mwenda, a popular former radio talk show host, told a packed courtroom in Kampala.

The journalists' lawyer, Bob Kasango, called for the case to be delayed while Uganda's sedition law is challenged in a separate case currently before the Constitutional Court.

In power for two decades, President Yoweri Museveni's government is criticised by rights groups for authoritarian tendencies including sometimes suppressing independent media.

But the east African country still enjoys a relatively free and lively media compared with many sub-Saharan Africa nations.