A Ugandan university student who vanished in June after posting a TikTok video sharply criticising President Yoweri Museveni has been sentenced to two months in prison on charges of offensive communication and computer misuse.
Elson Tumwine, a third‐year Makerere University agriculture student, disappeared on June 8, prompting opposition figures to accuse military agents of abducting and detaining him without due process. He resurfaced at an Entebbe police station in mid‐July and was formally charged.
In an Entebbe magistrates’ court on Monday, Tumwine pleaded guilty and asked for leniency. Prosecutors said his video, which doctored parliamentary footage, was intended “to ridicule, demean and incite hostility” toward the 80‐year‐old president.
Human rights activists warn the case threatens freedom of speech ahead of next year’s elections. Lawyer Godwin Toko criticised the trial, saying Tumwine had been held incommunicado and “nudged to plead guilty,” yet his alleged captors face no scrutiny.
Ugandan authorities have not responded to allegations that military intelligence agents abducted and tortured Tumwine before dumping him at the police station.