Renowned novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija has been granted bail by the Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court in Kampala.
The writer was arrested four weeks ago, after he allegedly used his Twitter handle to insult President Museveni and the Commander of Land Forces, Lt Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba using his Twitter.
Among the conditions for his release was not discussing the case in the media. The state cautioned the court against granting him bail arguing that he’d jeopardize investigations. He was also asked to pay Shs. 500,000Ugx cash in cash as bond, while his sureties were asked to pay 10 million non-cash.
Kakwenza’s lawyers led by Eron Kizza made a claim earlier that their client had been tortured in detention and had as a result sustained injuries requiring medical attention. It was on account of needing medical attention that the lawyers applied for bail.
Buganda Road Chief Magistrate, Dr.Douglas Singiza said on Tuesday that the defence lawyers had presented credible sureties and therefore deserved bail.
“The accused person has presented credible sureties some of whom are lawyers while others are political leaders of one of the political parties. Given the circumstances of this case, it is my considered view that it is not even necessary to consider expensive bail conditions in monetary terms. I therefore release the accused person on bail,” Dr.Singiza said in a short ruling.
