A 24-year-old man in Uganda has been sentenced to six years in prison for posting a TikTok video that insulted the president and his family.
Edward Awebwa faced charges of hate speech and disseminating “misleading and malicious” information about President Yoweri Museveni, First Lady Janet Museveni, and their son Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who heads the military.
The court also heard that Awebwa had made derogatory remarks, including predicting tax increases under President Museveni.
Although Awebwa pleaded guilty and sought forgiveness, the presiding magistrate noted his lack of remorse and the highly offensive nature of the video’s language.
“The accused deserves a punishment which will enable him learn from his past so that next time he will respect the person of the president, the first lady and the first son,” magistrate Stella Maris Amabilis said.
He received a six-year sentence for each of the four charges concurrently.
Rights organizations frequently condemn Ugandan authorities for human rights violations and restrictions on freedom of expression.
In 2022, acclaimed Ugandan author Kakwenza Rukirabashaija faced two counts of “offensive communication” after making critical remarks about the president and his son on Twitter. He fled to Germany after spending a month in jail, alleging torture.
Activist and writer Stella Nyanzi, also in exile, was previously imprisoned for publishing a poem critical of President Museveni.
President Museveni has been in power since 1986, fourteen years before Awebwa was born. In 2022, he signed a law targeting online speech that rights groups criticized as suppressing freedom of expression.
Last year, Uganda’s constitutional court deemed unconstitutional a section of the law that penalized “offensive communication.”
Ugandan human rights lawyer Michael Aboneka noted that Awebwa was charged under the same contentious law currently under court challenge due to its vagueness.
He emphasized that criticism of the president and his family should be expected from all perspectives.
“Unless they are saying that they are going to arrest every Ugandan for criticising them at every point,” he said.