Ugandan Writer Charged After "disturbing" President's Family

A court in Uganda on Tuesday charged a prominent author and government critic with "disturbing" the country's veteran President Yoweri Museveni and his powerful son in unflattering social media posts

Kampala, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Jan, 2022 ) :A court in Uganda on Tuesday charged a prominent author and government critic with "disturbing" the country's veteran President Yoweri Museveni and his powerful son in unflattering social media posts.

Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was charged with two counts of "offensive communication" and remanded in prison until January 21, said Charles Twine, spokesman for the Police Criminal Investigations Department.

Rukirabashaija, who last year won an international award for persecuted writers, was arrested at his home on December 28 and allegedly tortured after posting on Twitter about Museveni and his son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba.

In one post, the satirical writer had described Kainerugaba -- a general who many Ugandans believe is positioning himself to take over from his 77-year-old father -- as "obese" and a "curmudgeon".

In a charge sheet released by Buganda Road Court in Kampala, state prosecutors said Rukirabashaija "willfully and repeatedly used his Twitter handle to disturb the peace of His Excellency the President of the Republic of Uganda, Gen. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni with no purpose of legitimate communication".