(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has urged the authorities to free Radio Rwanda journalist Dominique Makeli, who has been held for 10 years in various Rwandan jails without ever appearing in court. Arrested on 18 September 1994, Makeli is currently being held in Kigali central prison. “We have been voicing our concern about Makeli’s fate for the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF has urged the authorities to free Radio Rwanda journalist Dominique Makeli, who has been held for 10 years in various Rwandan jails without ever appearing in court. Arrested on 18 September 1994, Makeli is currently being held in Kigali central prison.
“We have been voicing our concern about Makeli’s fate for the past 10 years and, once again, we reiterate our demand for his release,” the organisation said.
RSF also reiterated its concern about growing threats to press freedom in Rwanda: “The authorities in Kigali are always boasting of their support for democracy, but they do not seem to worry about the threats to journalists whose reports they find irritating.”
“On the 10th anniversary of Makeli’s arrest, we believe his release would send a strong signal of good faith if the Rwandan government wants to be able continue proclaiming its support for press freedom,” the organisation added.
The Kigali state prosecutor told RSF in October 2001 that Makeli was accused of inciting genocide in his reports. In May 1994, while covering what was believed to be an apparition of the Virgin Mary in Kibeho, western Rwanda, Makeli reported that she allegedly said, “The parent is in heaven.” The prosecutor insisted that, at the time, this was taken to mean, “President Habyarimana is in heaven”, and was interpreted as a message of support for the former president and, by extension, the policy of exterminating Tutsis.
RSF obtained a recording of this programme and played it to Rwandans who were in the country at the time of the genocide. None of them thought Makeli was fomenting hate.
