(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has condemned the failure to release newspaper reporter Jean Léonard Rugambage after the judges of a “gacaca” people’s court in Mbati, in the district of Ruyumba, overturned his conviction on a charge of “contempt of court”, on 26 July 2006, for which he had already served eight months of a […]
(RSF/IFEX) – Reporters Without Borders has condemned the failure to release newspaper reporter Jean Léonard Rugambage after the judges of a “gacaca” people’s court in Mbati, in the district of Ruyumba, overturned his conviction on a charge of “contempt of court”, on 26 July 2006, for which he had already served eight months of a one-year prison sentence.
“We call for an end to this travesty of justice being carried on behalf of unclear personal interests and we demand that Rugambage be released once and for all,” the press freedom organisation said.
A reporter with the independent fortnightly “Umuco”, Rugambage still faces a charge of “planning genocide” in 1994, when he was an army corporal. He withdrew an appeal against this accusation when two of his defence witnesses were arrested and a third was beaten during a hearing on 7 June.
The irregularities surrounding the manner in which he was placed in pretrial detention on 7 September 2005 are reportedly going to be examined in a later closed hearing.
During the 26 July 2006 appeal hearing, judge Théophile Bonabagenda referred to the original warrant for Rugambage’s arrest, which he and two other people were forced to sign by two policemen and a military officer, without consulting the gacaca district coordinator. Bonabagenda also insisted that one of the signatures was forged.
In an additional irregularity, Rugambage was held for six days at a police station in the central province of Gitamara after his arrest, although he should have been transferred immediately to the central prison.
