Man sentenced to six years in prison for insulting Ugandan president in TikTok videos

11 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –

A Ugandan court has sentenced a man to six years in prison for insulting President Yoweri Museveni and his family in a series of videos posted on TikTok, in which he allegedly also published “misleading” information about the policies of the African country’s authorities.

The man, identified as Edward Awebwa, was sentenced after being charged with “hate speech” over content posted on his account, which was named Save Media Uganda, and was deemed insulting to the president, the first lady, Janet Museveni, and his son.

Judge Stella Amabilis said that although the defendant faced up to 24 years in prison, she had decided to impose a six-year sentence taking into account his age, 24, and the fact that he had no criminal record, the Ugandan newspaper ‘The Independent’ reported.

The sentencing comes nearly three months after eight members of a music group were arrested for allegedly “insulting” the president by complaining about the length of a speech he gave at an event in the capital, Kampala.

Museveni, who has been in office since 1996, won a sixth term in January 2021 in an election that the main opposition candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine, said was fraudulent, amid what his critics say is an increase in repression and his authoritarian drift at the helm of the African country.