The Chief Magistrate has refused to sign the release order of Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, unless novelist’s passport is deposited in court.
Depositing the passport is one of the key bail conditions the chief magistrate gave before he granted bail. Now Kakwenza’s wife has to now rush to their home in Iganga to secure the passport before her husband gets freedom.
Novelist Kakwenza was granted bail by Buganda Road Magistrates court at Ugx500,000 non cash. Among other bail condition was not to discuss the arrest and detention matter in the media.
The satirist is accused of insulting President Museveni and his son, the Commander Land Forces Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba. Kakwenza had tweeted calling First son, Muhoozi Kainerugaba “pigheaded” and “plump”, before his arrest on December 28, 2021.
While in detention, his lawyer Eron Kiiza said the novelist displayed signs of being tortured.
“He appeared to be vomiting, he was urinating blood, there were torture marks on his legs and feet, he was in deep pain,” Kiiza told Reuters news agency.
Kakwenza also had been denied visits by his lawyers or relatives since his arrest.
Court, however, granted an order for the police and other security agencies to produce Rukirabashaija in court, dead or alive.
Kakwenza, author of The Greedy Barbarian, a satirical novel about a fictional country that tackles themes of corruption and greed. The novel is seen as a criticizing President Museveni’s regime. The writer has won the PEN Pinter Prize International Writer of Courage award last year, was arrested on December 28.
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