A Ugandan author who spent nearly a month in jail after criticising President Yoweri Museveni and his son has fled the country, the lawyer said on Wednesday.
Kakwenza Rukirabashaija, an internationally acclaimed writer, was released from jail in late January after being detained in December following a series of tweets he posted that were critical of Museveni and his son, an army general.
He was subsequently charged with communications offences. He has said that while in detention he was tortured.
He told local broadcaster station NTV last week that he was punched in the stomach, kicked, hit with gun butts and made to dance endlessly, and that his torturers used pliers to tear pieces of flesh from parts of his body.
"Yes, he has fled," his lawyer Eron Kiiza told Reuters, adding he was destined to somewhere in Europe.
Kiiza said even after being released, Rukirabashaija was kept under security agents' surveillance.
"So when he asked for his passport and the court refused to give it to him, he had to make up his mind and make a choice between his life or wait for court. He has decided to chose his life," Kiiza said.
As part of his bail conditions court demanded that the satirical author deposit his passport with them. Days after surrendering his passport however he applied to court to have it back to enable him travel abroad for medical care.
On Monday though a magistrate denied that request.
Earlier on Wednesday, Rukirabashaija posted on his Facebook account criticising the magistrate.
"You value my passport more than you do to my life and non-derogable rights. ..you're a disgrace! Now, put my passport in the dock and try it. I won't face you again."
It was unclear how he had travelled without a passport.
Museveni, who has ruled the East African country since 1986, has long been accused by the opposition as well as some Western governments and pressure groups of using security forces to intimidate and harass opponents and critics. Government officials have denied those accusations.
Police spokesman Fred Enanga said he could not comment on Rukirabashaija's matter, including allegations of torture, since the case was in court.
The novelist, who last year won the PEN Pinter Prize for international writers of courage, is best-known for "The Greedy Barbarian", a novel about corruption in a fictional country widely interpreted as a satire on Museveni.
Rukirabashaija is the second Museveni critic to flee Uganda this year after Stella Nyanzi, a university lecturer and author also announced in January she had fled to Germany.
Known for her profanity-laced attacks on Museveni, often via Facebook posts, Nyanzi was jailed for 18 months over offences related to her criticism.
(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
