By Agencies
Kigali: Insulting the president in Rwanda is a criminal offence and anyone convicted of the same is liable to heavy punishment.
This comes after the Supreme Court in Rwanda ejecting a challenge to a law which makes it is a crime to insult the president. The law, which was introduced last year, means that anyone insulting President Paul Kagame faces between five and seven years in prison. Lawyer Richard Mugisha had argued that the law was unconstitutional as it undermined freedom of expression. But the  court ruled that it should be upheld due to the responsibility that the office holds.
The same court ruled that a law which prohibits writing articles or drawing cartoons that humiliate MPs, ministers or other government officials should be annulled. Mugisha had also argued that articles which criminalised adultery should be scrapped. However, the Supreme Court rejected that appeal, meaning that Rwandese now have to tread carefully whenever they are saying or expressing anything about president Kagame.
