The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court has granted bail to a Tik-toker Ibrahim Musana Commonly known as Pressure 24 Seven. The court has barred him from mentioning names of President, Yoweri Museveni, Speaker of Parliament Anita Among and Kabaka of Buganda as part of his bail terms and conditions.
The social media activist who is battling charges of hate speech, appeared before the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Ronald Kayizi on Monday, after spending 60 days on remand without the commencement of his trial.
“I am guided by the above Constitutional provision and the above ruling on the Constitutional Court, I am of the view that when an accused person has clocked the mandatory period on remand court can only set bail conditions. It can not adjourn the case for any other purpose because an accused person can be released on his own cognizance”, said Kayizi.
He relied on the case filed by the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative -FHRI against the Attorney General, which was determined some years back by the Constitutional Court.
He then went on to grant Pressure cash bail of sh2 million while his sureties executed non cash bond of 20 million Shillings each.
They are Caroline Mugoya and Magarate Nabuzale both maternal aunties of the accused person.
The Court ordered Pressure to desist from mentioning the name of the Kabaka of Buganda, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi, President Yoweri Museveni, Speaker of Parliament Anita Among and Joyce Sebugwawo on his social media handles until the case is completed.
The Chief Magistrate warned that should Pressure mention any of the names on his platforms, court would cancel his bail.
Earlier, the Prosecution had requested for two more weeks to conclude the investigations and verify the authenticity of the documents presented by the sureties but court declined the request.
Prosecution states that between August 2023 and February 2024 in areas of Kampala district, while using a computer via his tik-tok account, Pressure 24 Seven shared information, which is likely to degrade or demean and promote hostility against four leaders including the Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi 2, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Speaker of Parliament Annet Anita Among and State Minister for Information Communication Technology – ICT Joyce Nabbosa Ssebugwawo.
Pressure 24 Seven was arraigned before the Court for the first time on February 24th 2024. He however, did not directly plead to the charges. He told the Magistrate that he wasn’t aware that by posting such videos, he was committing an offence since he is psychologically unwell having been admitted to Butabiika National Referral Mental Hospital some time back.
According to Pressure, he was being disturbed by the spirits of past Kings of Buganda kingdom who tasked him to repair their tombs but he was financially constrained.
He explained that he had written to Buganda Kingdom for two years informing them that he is a Prince and the spirits are making such demands but didn’t receive any response.
He therefore pleaded to the court to forgive him with a promise to desist from attacking leaders and to delete all the hate speech content from TikTok.
His troubles started when Buganda Kingdom officials reported a case of ridiculing the Kabaka to police. He was then arrested and kept under police custody for a week prior to his production in court.
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