By Kwanta Douglas –
Ugandan writer and critic of long-ruling leader Yoweri Museveni has been charged with communications offences related to tweets critical of the president and his son, the charge sheet showed on Tuesday.
Kakwenza Rukirabashaija has been in detention by the military since Dec. 28 when armed men broke into his house and took him away.
His lawyer has said he has been tortured and that at one time he was urinating blood.
Police and military have not responded to the allegations of torture.
Rukirabashaija was charged with “offensive communication,” citing his tweets in December that were critical of Museveni and his son, Muhoozi Kainerubaga, a general and commander of land forces in the military.
His charges also includes “wilfully and repeatedly using his twitter handle to disturb the peace of his Museveni with no purpose of legitimate communication”.
He was remanded and is expected to be brought to court again on January 21.
Rukirabashaija, a novelist, has written several books but his most acclaimed is a satirical novel “The Greedy Barbarian” for which last year he won the PEN Pinter Prize International Writer of Courage award.
The novel tackles themes of corruption and greed and has widely been interpreted in Uganda to refer to the political life of Museveni.
He has previously been arrested and questioned by the military about whether the novel was about Museveni.
His detention has drowned and allegations of torture have drawn criticism and pressure to release him from local activists and international diplomats.
Rights defenders including the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ranking Member, Jim Risch, and Eamon Gilmore, EU Special Representative for Human Rights are also fighting for his release.
Gilmore tweeted on Jan. 5 and demanded his release saying “I’m alarmed by reports of alleged torture and incommunicado detention of author @KakwenzaRukira.”
Days before he was detained, Rukirabashaija posted several comments critical of Museveni and Muhoozi, including one in which he said Muhoozi was “obese”, assailed his military credentials and denounced the purported plans to have him succeed his father.