By RFPosted on 25-03-2019Modified on 25-03-2019 at 00:22
Stella Nyanzi, an intellectual feminist, has been appearing since March 20 in a court in Kampala for insulting the head of state. This anthropologist, a former professor at Makerere University, has been held for more than four months for a poem published on her Facebook page.
At first sight, it is a trial for insulting the head of state, Yoweri Museveni, who has been in power since 1986. Stella Nyanzi, an anthropologist by training, is accused of " offensive " communication and cyber-harassment. The prosecution accuses him of having written and published on his Facebook page an " obscene " poem about President Museveni. This text, admittedly raw, ends with a sentence that could not be clearer: " I will not be muzzled ".
For the defense, it is therefore a trial on freedom of expression on social networks, as Stella Nyanzi was charged under Ugandan law on "misuse of computers".
" This judgment will be a test case for freedom of expression in Uganda," said Isaac Ssemakadde, his lawyer. It will reveal how much radical and critical comments can be made on Facebook and Twitter. The prosecutor has chosen to make an example of Ms. Nyanzi, even if what she posted on Facebook does not violate any criminal law, to silence those who make critical and radical comments on social networks. "
Stella Nyanzi has already had trouble with the court in the "case" called "pair of buttocks" . This is the expression she used to describe the head of state in 2017. This trial is likely to conclude on a dismissal because the accused refuses to undergo the medical examination ordered by the prosecutor and to determine whether she is sane.
The trial that opened Wednesday in Kampala is expected to last two months.
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