Tuyisenge pleaded guilty to the charge and begged for the court’s leniency. Prosecutors are seeking a three year setence.
A social media user could be sentenced to three years in jail if found guilty of a cyber crime that includes encouraging people to defile young girls
Evariste Tuyisenge appeared in court for the first time on Thursday following his arrest on March 21 by Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB) after he posted a tweet that allegedly encouraged people to sleep with underage children because they are ‘appetising’.
Tuyisenge, who later posted a tweet apologizing for his previous post, appeared before Nyarugenge Intermediate Court with his lawyer Innocent Muramira, and pleaded guilty to the charge of using social media platforms to promote defilement.
He pleaded for the leniency of the court, pointing out that he regrets his actions and will use his platforms to fight against sexual violence if granted clemency.
Tuyisenge, common known as “Ntama W’Imana”, escaped with the charge of drug abuse after Prosecutors said that he did not test positive for the use of narcotics. RIB had previously said that preliminary investigations had showed that he was under the influence of Cannabis at the time of posting the tweet.
In his subsequent tweet he regretted the post and acknowledged that defilement is a heinous crime and called on people to not engage in it, but it was a little too late as the long arm of the law had already got him.
Several of his friends pleaded to authorities to be lenient with him, claiming that he was going through a depression phase at the time and that he was orphaned at an early age, which impacted his life.
Tuyisenge, who has close to 30, 000 followers on tweet will report back in court on April 14, when he will learn his fate.
Following his arrest, RIB warned all social media users to avoid using content that constitute crimes or send messages that encourage people to commit crimes and reminded the public that those who are associated with these crimes will be punished in accordance with the law.
