Nine people on Friday appeared in a Rwandan court on charges including spreading false information, which could see them spend up to 15 years in jail.

Political dissent and freedom of speech have long been crushed in the small east African country under President Paul Kagame’s three-decade rule.

The individuals were detained in October 2021 after reportedly sharing the book “Blueprint for Revolution” by Serbian writer Srdja Popovic, which details peaceful methods for resisting authoritarianism.

Dressed in pink prison uniforms, the detainees appeared at Kigali’s High Court in Nyamirambo, which has charged them with “spreading false information or propaganda with intent to cause a hostile international opinion against the government of Rwanda”.

They were also accused of joining a criminal association and conspiracy to commit an offence against the ruling power or the president.

The prosecution has called for 15 years’ imprisonment for seven of the detainees and 10 years in jail for the other two.

The judge unexpectedly declared the pre-trial hearing in camera, ordering reporters, relatives and some opposition supporters out so proceedings could be held in private.

A source present at the hearing told AFP that all nine detainees requested bail, while the prosecution demanded they continue to be remanded as “flight risks”.

Among the detainees was Theoneste Nsengimana, who ran popular YouTube channel Umubavu TV which frequently aired content critical of the government.

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Nsengimana asked the court for a separate trial, arguing he was not a member of opposition leader Victoire Ingabire’s political organisation unlike the other eight detainees.

The judge said he will rule on the online content creator’s request on October 25, with the rest of the group scheduled to appear in court in November.

The detainees’ lawyer Gatera Gashabana declined to comment after the hearing.

A United Nations Human Rights Council Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in April said their arrest contravened their rights and constituted a “deprivation of liberty”.

The case comes shortly after rights group Human Rights Watch said Rwanda’s authorities were committing serious abuses towards people held in its jails in a report which was condemned by the Rwandan government.