Ugandan court convicts TikToker for insulting President Museveni

A Ugandan court has convicted a 21-year-old Tiktoker for calling for the public flogging of President Yoweri Museveni on TikTok.

The defendant, Emmanuel Nabugodi, who created a video depicting a mock Museveni trial, faces up to seven years in prison for allegedly spreading hate speech against the President.

He pleaded guilty and was remanded in custody at the notorious Kigo maximum security prison near Kampala until November 18, when he will be sentenced.

The State Attorney, Paul Aheebwa Byamukama, said prosecutors have asked the Entebbe court to impose a seven-year sentence.

DAILY POST reports that Nabugodi is the fourth Ugandan to appear in court, and remanded in custody, in the last two days for insulting the President and his family.

Recall that in July, another 21-year-old TikToker was sentenced to six years in prison for insulting Museveni, who has ruled Uganda since he toppled President Milton Obote in 1986.

Similarly, award-winning author, Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, was arrested in late 2021 and charged with insulting Museveni and his powerful son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who many Ugandans believe is positioning himself to take over from his 80-year-old father.

Rukirabashaija was awarded the 2021 PEN Pinter Prize for an International Writer of Courage, which is presented annually to a writer who has been persecuted for speaking out about their beliefs.

He said he was tortured during his month-long detention in Uganda and fled into exile in Germany.

In 2020, four members of a comedy troupe were jailed when they released a video sarcastically calling on Ugandans to pray for their leaders, including Museveni, the police chief and the head of prisons.