Human rights groups condemned the conviction as an “outrageous” attack on freedom of expression and
accused the government of using laws about electronic communications to stifle political dissent.
“Stella Nyanzi has been criminalised solely for her creative flair of using metaphors and what may be
considered insulting language to criticise President Museveni’s leadership,” said Joan Nyanyuki, director
for East Africa at Amnesty International.
“The mere fact that forms of expression are considered insulting to a public figure is not sufficient ground
to penalise anyone. Public officials, including those exercising the highest political authority, are
legitimately subject to criticism and political opposition.”
Ms Nyanzi, who has previously called the president a “pair of buttocks”, was arrested and detained in
prison on 2 November last year, two weeks after she posting a birthday poem for the president.
Referring to Mr Museveni’s mother Esiteri, she wrote: “I wish the acidic pus flooding Esiteri’s vaginal canal
had burn up your unborn foetus. Burn you up as badly as you have corroded all morality and professionalism
out of our public institutions in Uganda.”
She suffered a miscarriage while in prison and in February the University of Makerere terminated her
employment as a research fellow at the Institute for Social Research.
In her most recent Facebook post about the court case, she wrote: “My presence in your court as a suspect
and prisoner highlights multiple facets of dictatorship. I exposed the entrenchment of autocracy ... I refuse
to be a mere spectator in the struggle to oust the worst dictator.”
The offence of cyberharassment carried a maximum sentence of three years’ imprisonment or a fine of 1.4
million shillings (£311). Following the conviction, Amnesty called for Ms Nyanzi, who has already spent
nine months in prison, to be freed immediately.
“This verdict is outrageous and flies in the face of Uganda’s obligations to uphold the right to freedom of
expression for all people in Uganda and demonstrates the depths of the government’s intolerance of
criticism,” said Ms Nyanuki. “It must be quashed and Stella Nyanzi, who has already suffered enormously
for expressing her opinions, left to get on with her life. The Ugandan authorities must scrap the Computer
Misuse Act 2011 which has been used systematically to harass, intimidate and stifle government critics like
Stella Nyanzi.”
Ms Nyanzi’s campaigns on issues such as demanding sanitary pads for schoolgirls and gay rights have made
her a divisive figure in a country where homosexual acts are illegal. Her most recent criticism of the
government has focused on its tax on social media.