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| Theatre producer deported by Uganda for gay play vows fight to return | Theatre producer deported by Uganda for gay play vows fight to return |
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| A British theatre producer deported from Uganda after staging a play with a gay character has vowed to fight on and legally win the right to return to a country he calls home. | A British theatre producer deported from Uganda after staging a play with a gay character has vowed to fight on and legally win the right to return to a country he calls home. |
| David Cecil has been forced to leave behind everything, including his girlfriend of six years and two children aged two and one. "That is agony, it's tough," he told the Guardian. "It is really upsetting for me." | David Cecil has been forced to leave behind everything, including his girlfriend of six years and two children aged two and one. "That is agony, it's tough," he told the Guardian. "It is really upsetting for me." |
| The case is tricky for Uganda. On the one hand it wants to present itself as a progressive country that would be a good place to invest; and then there is the case of Cecil, which made headlines around the world last year when he was arrested and imprisoned for staging a play called The River at the Mountain, which centres on a gay factory owner. | The case is tricky for Uganda. On the one hand it wants to present itself as a progressive country that would be a good place to invest; and then there is the case of Cecil, which made headlines around the world last year when he was arrested and imprisoned for staging a play called The River at the Mountain, which centres on a gay factory owner. |
| The case was dismissed by a magistrate in January. About 10 days ago Cecil was picked up by police and detained for five nights before, on Monday, being deported to London – a move he firmly believes is political. | The case was dismissed by a magistrate in January. About 10 days ago Cecil was picked up by police and detained for five nights before, on Monday, being deported to London – a move he firmly believes is political. |
| Cecil said he was determined to fight and return. "My life is there: my family, my work, everything. It's a lovely country, it's home," he said. "It is such a brilliant place, such a cool society." | Cecil said he was determined to fight and return. "My life is there: my family, my work, everything. It's a lovely country, it's home," he said. "It is such a brilliant place, such a cool society." |
| Cecil managed the Tilapia centre in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, and last year he commissioned a theatre group to put on a play on any subject they wanted. "Very quickly this group of five black Ugandans, all heterosexual, said: let's do a play about homosexuality. There has been this common misconception that I kind of parachuted in and deliberately set out to put on a gay play, which is nonsense." | Cecil managed the Tilapia centre in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, and last year he commissioned a theatre group to put on a play on any subject they wanted. "Very quickly this group of five black Ugandans, all heterosexual, said: let's do a play about homosexuality. There has been this common misconception that I kind of parachuted in and deliberately set out to put on a gay play, which is nonsense." |
| The play was written by Beau Hopkins, a British playwright, and funded through wefund.com. Cecil went through lots of hoops and interviews to get permission to stage the play, something he was first told he did not need. | The play was written by Beau Hopkins, a British playwright, and funded through wefund.com. Cecil went through lots of hoops and interviews to get permission to stage the play, something he was first told he did not need. |
| In one interview, he was repeatedly asked who was "really" behind all of this, that perhaps someone like "Peter Tatchell was pumping money in to my pockets". | In one interview, he was repeatedly asked who was "really" behind all of this, that perhaps someone like "Peter Tatchell was pumping money in to my pockets". |
| The play was staged and Cecil was arrested and spent four nights in Luzira maximum security jail. In January a magistrate dismissed the case because of repeated attempts by the prosecution to delay it. | The play was staged and Cecil was arrested and spent four nights in Luzira maximum security jail. In January a magistrate dismissed the case because of repeated attempts by the prosecution to delay it. |
| Cecil said he always feared that was only a temporary reprieve. "Stuff in Uganda often happens extra-legally and it was nagging that I had pissed off certain people and that they might use some other means to get at us." | Cecil said he always feared that was only a temporary reprieve. "Stuff in Uganda often happens extra-legally and it was nagging that I had pissed off certain people and that they might use some other means to get at us." |
| On 6 February Cecil was picked up once more and told he was to be deported immediately on the orders of the interior minister. After five grim nights in a crowded police cell, three plain-clothes officers and a police officer armed with a machine gun escorted him out. "We drove at high speed with the warning lights flashing down the middle of the motorway to Entebbe airport. I was then taken to the immigration authorities, who put a black mark in my passport and gave me a letter saying I was indefinitely deported from Uganda." | On 6 February Cecil was picked up once more and told he was to be deported immediately on the orders of the interior minister. After five grim nights in a crowded police cell, three plain-clothes officers and a police officer armed with a machine gun escorted him out. "We drove at high speed with the warning lights flashing down the middle of the motorway to Entebbe airport. I was then taken to the immigration authorities, who put a black mark in my passport and gave me a letter saying I was indefinitely deported from Uganda." |
| Cecil, who has been offered a work contract at a university film school, knows one option would be to relocate his family to the UK, but he is reluctant. He has a fighting spirit. "I don't feel like taking it lying down. I really think it is a few individuals who are responsible for this." | Cecil, who has been offered a work contract at a university film school, knows one option would be to relocate his family to the UK, but he is reluctant. He has a fighting spirit. "I don't feel like taking it lying down. I really think it is a few individuals who are responsible for this." |
| Mike Harris, head of advocacy at Index on Censorship, which has been helping and petitioning on behalf of Cecil, said Uganda wanted to be seen as progressive and was extremely reliant on external aid. He added: "It is clear that freedom of expression in Uganda is starting to deteriorate. The media council and other organs and bodies of the state are beginning to overstep their constitutional lines and you can see this with the David Cecil case." | Mike Harris, head of advocacy at Index on Censorship, which has been helping and petitioning on behalf of Cecil, said Uganda wanted to be seen as progressive and was extremely reliant on external aid. He added: "It is clear that freedom of expression in Uganda is starting to deteriorate. The media council and other organs and bodies of the state are beginning to overstep their constitutional lines and you can see this with the David Cecil case." |
| He called on the UK Foreign Office "to raise their game and make it clear that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right". | He called on the UK Foreign Office "to raise their game and make it clear that freedom of expression is a fundamental human right". |
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