Stella Nyanzi guilty of cyber harassment

COURT    CRIME    JUSTICE

KAMPALA - Former Makerere University research fellow Dr. Stella Nyanzi has been convicted over cyber harassment against President Yoweri Museveni.

Nyanzi was on Thursday found guilty by Buganda Road Court grade one Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu.

However, she was cleared on the charge of offensive Communication. 

While giving the judgment, Kamasanyu said the commonality of the alleged post was vulgar, scandalous, indecent and extremely offensive.

"The prosecution has with no reasonable doubt adduced thorough evidence that the alleged poem written by you Nyanzi was obscene and corrupts the minds of the young generation.

And basing on the fact that on April 16, 2019, you admitted for writing the alleged post, you are therefore found guilty and convicted on the first count," Kamasanyu ruled.



On the second count, the magistrate said the prosecution did not call any witness to describe how the accused disturbed the peace of the president and hence acquitted Nyanzi.

"No witness was called to describe how the accused disturbed the peace of the president, I, therefore, find her not guilty and acquitted for this offence," Kamasanyu added as she adjourned the case to Friday 2, 2019 for sentence.

The senior state prosecutors Janat Kitimbo and Timothy Amerit prayed the court to give a custodial sentence to the convict saying that she has all throughout the trial remained ungrateful and unremorseful for the offence.

"Your honor, the convict has wasted court time since November 2018, her impugned post was a brutal attack to the president of the Republic of Uganda and his deceased mother.

We, therefore, pray for a custodial sentence such that it signals and deters the would-be offenders that are increasingly using computers," Kitimbo prayed to court.

However, the second prosecutor Amerit requested the court to sentence the convict for the rest of her life in prison.

Prior to mitigation, Nyanzi who had no lawyers to represent her told the court that she had not given any instructions to her defense counsels Isaac Ssemakadde and Derrick Bazzakuketta, saying that is why they were not in court.

"I pray that you order I be taken to a clean prison, do something about ward two women prison, don't send me back there.

My bathroom is locked for a week, I'm a woman who needs to be in a clean place, please promise me that you will intervene," Nyanzi requested court.



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