RWANDAN POLICE ARREST THREE JOURNALISTS, SEIZE NEWS MAGAZINE
Rwandan police on Thursday seized copies of the country’s only independent newspaper and arrested its director and at least two of his journalists on charges of libel and ”divisionism.”
Robert Sebufurira, director of the weekly Umuseso, and his two colleagues were arrested for having published ”false rumours, within the framework of the law that prohibits inciting divisionism and libel,” said police spokesperson Damas Gatare.
A human rights activist said a total of five journalists from the weekly were arrested and that the latest edition, due to go on sale Thursday, had been seized at the border with Uganda, where much of Rwanda’s press is printed.
The edition contained an article on the former head of the Rwanda army Nyamwasa Kayumba and other senior officers that caused offence, according to the police.
The rights activist, who asked not to be named, added that the edition also contained an article allegedly revealing the salaries of top politicians and officials.
The previous director of Umuseso spent a month behind bars early this year on charges of ”inciting divisionism and discrimination” before being released because of procedural errors.
The charges came after the weekly published a caricature of Rwandan President Paul Kagame and ran an article judged to be ”divisionist.”
Various international rights organisations deem accusations of ”ethnic divisionism,” in a country still scarred by a 1994 genocide, to be an excuse used by the government to try to silence its opponents.
During the 1994 genocide the Hutu army and militia groups slaughtered up to a million minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus. – Sapa-AFP