CPJ opposes prison terms for two Rwandan journalists

The two, arrested in July 2010, face charges of incitement to violence, genocide denial, and insulting the head of state in connection with several opinion pieces published in mid-2010, according to news reports.

Claims of divisions within the army

Some of the columns in contention claimed there were growing divisions within the army and that Hutus victims of the 1994 Rwandan genocide deserve justice. One of the columns was accompanied by a photo of President Paul Kagame with a Nazi swastika superimposed in the background. The arrests took place one month ahead of the 2010 presidential elections.

"Using sweeping laws on genocide denial, the prosecutor wants to silence two journalists for opinion pieces," said CPJ East Africa correspondent Tom Rhodes. "We call on the High Court to dismiss these harsh criminal charges against Agnès Uwimana and Saidati Mukakibibi."

A verdict is expected in February, defense lawyer Nsabayezu Evariste told CPJ.

In-depth coverage

The Kinyarwanda-language weekly, which ceased publication after the arrests, came to prominence after two other private weeklies, Umuseso and Umuvugizi, were banned by the Media High Council, local journalists said. While sometimes sensational, Umurabyo provided in-depth coverage on topics such as the June 2010 murder of Umuvugizi deputy editor Jean-Léonard Rugambage and allegations of exorbitant government spending on luxury jets, according to local journalists.

Uwimana had been imprisoned in 2007 on charges of ethnic divisionism and libel after she published a commentary on ethnic violence in Rwanda, according to CPJ research.

Article published courtesy of CPJ