(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on the Burundian government to immediately end its suspension of Isanganiro radio station for giving air time to anti-government rebels. “This decision deprives people of news and is especially damaging at a time when the country is starting new talks to re-establish peace,” said the organisation in its letter to […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has called on the Burundian government to immediately end its suspension of Isanganiro radio station for giving air time to anti-government rebels.
“This decision deprives people of news and is especially damaging at a time when the country is starting new talks to re-establish peace,” said the organisation in its letter to Communications Minister Albert Mbonerane. “Burundians want to form their opinions freely. It is not for the authorities to say what material should be broadcast,” RSF added.
The privately-owned Isanganiro went off the air on 13 September 2003 after the communications minister ordered it to close for a week, accusing it of broadcasting “defamatory statements about the government at a time when it is trying to achieve an overall and permanent cease-fire.” The station had allowed Pasteur Habimana, a spokesperson for the National Liberation Forces (Forces nationales de libération, FNL), a Hutu rebel group, to speak during a programme. The government has repeatedly asked radio stations not to broadcast interviews or statements by rebel leaders.
On 14 September, in reaction to Isanganiro’s suspension, the other privately-owned stations in Burundi announced their decision to cease covering the activities of the government and of President Domitien Ndayizeye until the radio station is allowed back on the air.
