Crime

Uganda: British producer of gay play faces deportation

Feb 08 2013
Written by Scott Roberts

UK theatre producer David Cecil, who was charged with breaking Uganda’s laws in relation to his play featuring a gay storyline, faces deportation from the country.

Mr Cecil appeared in court last September charged with ‘‘disobeying lawful orders’’ of the Uganda Media Council in regards to his play, ‘The River and the Mountain,’ which had been performed without the approval of the council.

The case against him was thrown out by a court at the start of 2013.

However, the Guardian reports immigration officers took Mr Cecil from his home in the outskirts of the capital, Kampala, on Thursday to a police station, where he is being held.

Fridah Mutesi, a human rights lawyer in Uganda, has been in contact with Mr Cecil’s lawyer and has been told Uganda’s Ministry of Internal Affairs will not disclose the grounds on which Mr Cecil was being deported, but that the ministry had the power to deport individuals deemed “undesirable”.

It is understood Mr Cecil, who has family living in Uganda, is not gay and does not consider himself to be a gay rights activist.

Mr Cecil said he would appeal against the deportation order, either from Uganda or from the UK. He said the arrest was “political, not legal”.

The Ugandan Parliament reconvened on Tuesday following its Christmas break and announced a packed agenda, including picking up its notorious Anti-Homosexuality Bill.