(JED/IFEX) – JED has deplored the 26 November 2006 suspension of a Paris-based Radio France Internationale’s (RFI) FM transmitter, which operated from Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda. JED believes that the near-bellicose relationship between France and Rwanda should not, under any circumstances, affect a media outlet whose editorial independence is guaranteed by its legal […]
(JED/IFEX) – JED has deplored the 26 November 2006 suspension of a Paris-based Radio France Internationale’s (RFI) FM transmitter, which operated from Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda.
JED believes that the near-bellicose relationship between France and Rwanda should not, under any circumstances, affect a media outlet whose editorial independence is guaranteed by its legal status. These measures are being taken for purely political reasons, not because any of wrongdoing on the part of the radio station.
JED thereby urges the Rwandan authorities to lift this unfair ruling, which is restricting the free circulation of information and violating press freedom.
The RFI’s FM transmitter was suspended by the government after the two countries decided to break off their diplomatic relations. According to government spokesperson and Rwandan minister of information, Mr. Laurent Nkusi, this ruling is part of the government’s decision “to stop the activities of all French public institutions in Rwanda.”
The government of Rwanda broke off its diplomatic relations with France following a decision by a French examining judge to take legal action against the Rwandan head of state, Paul Kagame, and nine of his associates, for their alleged participation in the 1994 assassination of the former president, Juvénal Habyarimana.
