JED notes that Rugambage and his newspaper had been harassed by the authorities for several months.
(JED/IFEX) – JED condemns the murder of Jean Léonard Rugambage, deputy editor-in-chief of “Umuvugizi”, a newspaper published in Kigali, capital of the Republic of Rwanda, and JED’s correspondent in the country. JED urges the Rwandan authorities to conduct an impartial and credible investigation in order to shed ight on this crime. JED fears, however, that those who committed the crime are precisely the ones who may lead the investigations.
(. . .)
JED also notes that, for several months, Rugambage and his newspaper had been the target of the Rwandan authorities. On 13 March 2010, the Media High Council (HCM), the media regulation authority in Rwanda, had suspended “Umuvugizi” and “Umuseso”, the two main independent newspapers published in Kigali, for six months for “inciting the police and army to insubordination, publication of information disturbing law and order, dissemination of rumours, as well as slander and interference in people’s private lives”.
(Please note this is an abridged translation.)
