PEN prize-winning Ugandan novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija illegally detained and tortured

The author is being held after tweets criticising President Yoweri Museveni and his son

Ugandan satirical novelist Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, who was named International Writer of Courage by PEN last year, has been illegally detained and tortured for criticising the president and his son, his lawyer said.

Gunmen came to the writer's house on 28 December after a series of tweets about the country's president, Yoweri Museveni, including one calling him a thief and his son and presumed successor an incompetent pig-headed curmudgeon".