By Enyichukwu Enemanna
A Court has freed three Rwandan reporters who have been in detention since four years for allegedly spreading false information with the intention of instigating unrest and tarnishing the government’s image.
The journalists, Jean Damascène Mutuyimana, Niyodusenga Schadrack and Jean Baptiste Nshimiyimana, working with the YouTube channel Iwacu TV, were arrested in October 2018 on allegations of causing violence and spreading rumours.
Nonprofit organisation, Committee to Protect Journalists said they were repeatedly denied bail before their trial.
“There is no evidence to prove that their publication incited violence,” Speciose Nyirabagande, one of the court’s three judges, said on Wednesday.
Rights groups say Rwanda has one of the worst human rights records in sub-Saharan Africa and accuse the government of using authoritarian means to stifle dissent, an accusation the government has rejected, saying it guarantees freedom of speech.
The journalist’s defence lawyer Jean-Paul Ibambe said he welcomed the acquittal but criticised the length of their pre-trial detention.
“Imagine serving four years in preventive detention,” Ibambe said. “The courts should be quickening the procedures instead of taking this long time.”
“The relief at the acquittal of the three journalists is overshadowed by the court’s failure to stop this sham of a trial earlier,” said Lewis Mudge, Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch.
“The fact a prosecution took place at all will send a chilling message to others who dare to exercise their right to free expression in Rwanda.”
