(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is outraged by the wave of arrests of journalists in the capital city, Bujumbura. In the latest incident, on 1 December 2006, the director of the privately-owned radio station Bonesha FM, Corneille Nibaratu, was summoned by the public prosecutor, a prelude to his probable incarceration in Mpimba central prison. “The climate has […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is outraged by the wave of arrests of journalists in the capital city, Bujumbura. In the latest incident, on 1 December 2006, the director of the privately-owned radio station Bonesha FM, Corneille Nibaratu, was summoned by the public prosecutor, a prelude to his probable incarceration in Mpimba central prison.
“The climate has become unbearable in Bujumbura and it cannot continue. Journalists live in fear of this sinister spiral, by which they are summoned one by one by the same prosecutor then sent to jail. We call on the embassies of the donor nations in Burundi to bring about an end to this wave of arrests as soon as possible and to bring the government back to its senses. Our colleagues must be freed,” said RSF.
On 30 November, it was Nibaratu’s turn to receive a summons from Bujumbura city hall’s prosecutor’s office for the following day. Similar summonses have been received in recent days by Mathias Manirakiza, director of the privately-owned radio station Isanganiro, Serge Nibizi, editor-in-chief of the privately-owned radio station Radio Publique Africaine (RPA), and Domitile Kiramvu, a journalist with RPA. All three were charged with “broadcasting information disrupting order and public security” and transferred immediately to Mpimba central prison.
