Nine people on Friday appeared in a Rwandan court on charges including spreading false information, which could see them spend up to 15 years in jail.
Political dissent and freedom of speech have long been crushed in the small east African country under President Paul Kagame’s three-decade rule.
The individuals were detained in October 2021 after reportedly sharing the book “Blueprint for Revolution” by Serbian writer Srdja Popovic, which details peaceful methods for resisting authoritarianism.
Dressed in pink prison uniforms, the detainees appeared at Kigali’s High Court in Nyamirambo, which has charged them with “spreading false information or propaganda with intent to cause a hostile international opinion against the government of Rwanda”.
They were also accused of joining a criminal association and conspiracy to commit an offence against the ruling power or the president.
The…
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