A 21-year-old has become the latest Ugandan TikToker to be sent to prison after making a video allegedly insulting President Yoweri Museveni.
Emmanuel Nabugodi appeared for sentencing on Monday after pleading guilty last week to four charges, including hate speech and spreading malicious information about the president.
He was sentenced to 32 months in prison.
Nabugodi, known for sharing comedic content with his 20,000 followers, made a film of a mock trial of the head of state. In it he called for the public flogging of Museveni.
Rights groups have frequently complained about restrictions on freedom of expression in the country, saying the president, who has been in power since 1986, does not tolerate criticism.
In July, Edward Awebwa was handed a six-year prison sentence on similar charges against Nabugodi relating to a TikTok post. Three others are awaiting trial over content on the social media app.
When Nabugodi’s sentence was handed down, Stellah Maris Amabilis, the chief magistrate of the Entebbe court, said he was unrepentant and that the sentence would help stop social media attacks against people, including the president.
“This court hopes that by the time the convict leaves prison, he will have learned that abusing people in the name of obtaining content is evil,” she said.
She added that he had the right to appeal the verdict within fourteen days.
He was convicted in 2022 under a controversial amendment to the Computer Misuse Act.
It made it illegal to “write, transmit, or share through a computer any information that is likely to ridicule, degrade, or humiliate another person, group of persons, tribe, ethnicity, religion, or gender.”
In its human rights report on Uganda last year, the US State Department said the “authorities used this law to intimidate internet users from criticizing government policies”.
Rights groups also regularly denounce the Ugandan authorities for violations of human rights and freedom of expression.
In 2022, award-winning Ugandan author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija was charged with two counts of “offensive communication” after making unflattering comments about the president and his son on Twitter.
He fled the country to Germany after spending a month in prison, where he said he was tortured.
You may also be interested in:
-
Top designer promises to regrow dreadlocks that were cut off after arrest in Uganda
-
Ugandan Stella Nyanzi bares breasts in protest against prison sentence
[Getty Images/BBC]
Go to BBCAfrica.com for more news from the African continent.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfricaon Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at BBCAfrica
