Africa-Press – Uganda. A man accused of tweeting an inappropriate joke about Speaker of Parliament Anita Among has been released on bail.
Mr John Sentamu, aka Kelly Slender, 26, a resident of Maganjo in Kawempe Division, Kampala, was accused of disturbing the peace of the Speaker on Twitter and has been on remand at Luzira Prison for about two months.
However, on Friday, Buganda Road Court magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu released Mr Sentamu on a non-cash bail of Shs10m.
The shop attendant’s three sureties were each given a non-cash bond of Shs5m.
In an interview with Daily Monitor at the weekend, Lawyer Jeremiah Keeya Mwanje, who is representing Mr Sentamu, said it’s a relief to have his client freed.
“So we managed to get the young man released on bail but the magistrate set the trial date for December 12, but at least the young man can continue with his life as we prepare to commence in December,” Mr Mwanje said.
The case
Mr Sentamu is accused of using Twitter to disturb the peace of the Speaker of Parliament with no purpose of legitimate communication.
It is alleged that between July and September, he willfully and repeatedly used his Twitter handle @JOHNKELLYTON 5 to tweet a joke about the personality of the Speaker, while she was on a visit to Pope Francis at the Vatican in Italy about two months ago.
He is being charged with offensive communication under Section 25 of the Computer Misuse (Amendment) Act. If convicted, he is liable to imprisonment of one year or a fine of 24 currency points, or both.
The Computer Misuse (Amendment) Act remains controversial and has seen a number of media groups and rights activists challenging it before the Constitutional Court for threatening freedom of expression and targeting those with divergent political views.
The Computer Misuse (Amendment) Act, assented to by President Museveni earlier this month, has a number of provisions, including criminalising unauthorised access to information, sending unsolicited information, publishing photos of children without parental consent, publishing false and malicious information and publishing unauthorised information.
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