By Sania Babirye
Buganda road court grade one magistrate Gladys Kamasanyu has handed an 18 year jail sentence to Makerere university Researcher Dr.Stella Nyanzi.
Nyanzi was however sentenced in absentia after she was whsiked away from the video conferencing hall at Luzira for insulting the magistrate and flashing her breasts.
As always, the controversial scholar did not disappoint her supporters who were packed in court because as soon as she was produced before the magistrate via a video link, she did not waste time but put a show about her dissatisfaction with the video conferencing system.
She started shouting and raising her middle finger at the magistrate as she shouted on top of her voice before finally exposing her breasts on the video screen as the magistrate sat there and watched in total dismay.
However, Luzira prison security later whisked Dr.Nyanzi away from the video link forcing the magistrate to sentence her in absentia.
Meanwhile, Nyanzi will serve only 9 months out of the 18 sentenced after the magistrate subtracted the 9 months she had so far spent on remand.
There was also drama in court after Nyanzi's supporters turned rowdy and started shouting, abusing and throwing bottles at the magistrate yo show their dissatisfaction with the decision by the magistrate to not have Nyanzi brought in court for her sentencing and the actual punishment of 18 months that she was given.
This force police to intervene to try and calm them down, however, this did not go well with Nyanzi's out of control fubs who turned against the police officials and ended in a fight.
While sentencing her, the magistrate ruled that the offense of Cyber harassment crimes are on the rise and that there is need there is need to curb it down .
She also stated that she would have sentenced Nyanzi to a fine but a fine will not occasion any impact on Nyanzi since she is unremouseful despite being convicted of posting an obscene and vulgar poem attacking the person of the president and that of his late mother.