DPP appeals against acquittal of Stella Nyanzi

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has appealed against the acquittal of former Makerere University Researcher Dr Stella Nyanzi on charges of offensive communication and cyber harassment.

Last month, Justice Henry Peter Adonyo acquitted Nyanzi of the charges arguing that she was illegally convicted by Buganda Road Magistrates Court.

Justice Adonyo also ruled that Dr Stella Nyanzi’s constitutional right to fair hearing was violated because she was never allowed to bring any of her witnesses and neither was she given adequate time to prepare her Defense.

The charges arose from a boorish birthday poem which was posted on her Facebook account on September 16, 2018, a day after President Yoweri Museveni’s 74th birthday.

The poem in issue ridiculed Museveni’s late mother Esteeri Kokundeka in a language full of vulgarity.

According to the notice of appeal filed before the Court of Appeal in Kampala, the Office of the DPP says that is not satisfied with decision of Justice Adonyo.

They have also written to the High Court to furnish them with the record of the proceedings to enable them formulate their grounds of appeal in the Court of Appeal.

The Grade one Magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu convicted Nyanzi without finding the location of the gadget she used to post the Facebook poem on her page was in Uganda or not.

Her acquittal followed a successful appeal that had been filed by her lawyer Isaac Ssemakadde who argued that Buganda Road Court trial Magistrate had violated her constitutional rights while handing her the sentence.

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