蜜芽传媒

A prominent Ugandan author, charged with insulting President Museveni and his son, has fled the country. Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, who last year won an international award given to persecuted writers, alleges he was brutally tortured following his arrest in December.

Rukirabashaija鈥檚 most acclaimed work is the satirical The Greedy Barbarian, for which he won a PEN Pinter prize, International Writer of Courage in 2021.

Kakwenza was released on bail ahead of his trial next month and his passport was confiscated. Rukirabashaija had sought permission to leave the country to seek treatment for injuries he says he sustained during his recent month in detention at an unknown location.

For more Newsday spoke to human rights lawyer Nicholas Opiyo.

(Photo: Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, appears in court on charges of offensive communication involving insulting the country's ruling family in Kampala, Uganda on February 01, 2022. Credit: Badru Katumba / AFP via Getty Images)