Prosecution in a Kigali court has recommended a ten year jail term in absentia to Rwandan journalist Jean Bosco Gasasira.
The Umuvugizi chief editor, who is currently exiling in Europe, is accused of the offences, which include incitement aimed at destabilising national security, publication of articles that disrespect the President and violation of several media laws.
This latest development was a result of an appeal by the prosecutors after an intermediary court in Kigali proved him innocent late September last year. The prosecution argues that the court had not fully scrutinised evidence associated with the cases.
In this respect, the prosecution gave evidence, which was not given much consideration. Quoting article 69, for instance, the prosecution argued that the local tabloid compared the ruling party Rwanda Patriotic Front to Mugabe’s Zanu-PF in Zimbabwe. The latter has reportedly been accused of oppressing the country’s opposition, which is not case in the Rwandan context.
Usually, the Umugizi chief editor uses international media like BBC to react to court rulings against him but in this particular occasion, Gasasira has yet to respond. The final judgment will be read by the Supreme Court on 27 May 2011.
Recently, the Media High Council suspended the local tabloid for a period of six months, after the journalist ignored a number of warnings by the media control body. Subsequent to the suspension, the paper went online without changing its editorial line and cases of media law violations are still eminent on its website version.
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