The conviction of Ugandan writer and academic Stella Nyanzi for comments she posted on Facebook is a sad indictment of the space for free expression in Uganda, PEN International and PEN Uganda said today. A court convicted Dr. Nyanzi on 1 August 2019, of ‘cyber harassment’, but acquitted her of the charge of ‘offensive communication.’ She was sentenced on 2 August to 18 months in prison. The charges relate to a poem Dr. Nyanzi wrote on Facebook criticising Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni (and his mother). PEN believes that Stella Nyanzi is being held solely for the peaceful exercise of her right to freedom of expression and calls on the authorities to quash her sentence and release her immediately and unconditionally. Continue
