Ugandan author charged with ‘disturbing’ president’s peace

By RODNEY MUHUMUZA
Associated Press

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan authorities on Tuesday brought criminal charges against an author critical of the government whose ongoing detention has sparked concern at home and abroad. Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, who has been detained since Dec. 28, was charged with two counts of “offensive communication” for his alleged efforts on Twitter to “disturb the peace” of President Yoweri Museveni and his son, Lt. Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who commands the East African country’s infantry forces. Rukirabashaija has since been taken to a maximum-security prison outside the capital, Kampala, according to police. But Rukirabashaija’s lawyer, Eron Kiiza, told The Associated Press that his client had been “secretly remanded” after being charged without notice to defense attorneys.