By
Tom Rhodes/CPJ East Africa
Representative
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Supporters
of Radio Publique Africaine director Bob Rugurika crowd around the station's
offices to celebrate his release on bail last month. Rugurika's release comes
as Burundi debates an easing of press laws. (AFP/Esdras Ndikumana)
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Burundi journalists may have more space to report freely ahead of the
country's controversial elections this year after the legislative
assembly pushed for amendments to a draconian
press law and a radio director was released on bail.
This week the senate began debating revisions to the country's
repressive press law, which was enacted in 2013. The proposals were put forward
by the legislative assembly last week and include a repeal of several articles
including those that limited the protection of journalist sources and
prohibited critical reporting on topics such as the economy, national security,
public safety, and morality, according to news reports.
The proposed amendments were announced just weeks after Bob Rugurika,
director of the privately owned station Radio Publique Africaine, was released on bail, in a move
that has bolstered Burundi's small but vibrant press.
More than a thousand people took to the streets in the capital Bujumbura
to celebrate when a court released Rugurika on bail on February 19, according
to news
reports. The journalist, who had been detained for about a month, has been
charged with complicity in murder, news reports said.
Authorities arrested Rugurika after the station broadcast an interview with a guest who confessed to being involved in
the September murders of three Italian nuns and implicated
current and former intelligence and police officers in his allegations,
according to Rugurika and his lawyer.
In a phone interview shortly after his release, Rugurika told me that he
and others had feared his January 20 arrest was not only a ploy to silence the
critical station but a warning to other journalists to toe the line ahead of
elections this year.
Rugurika said he was held at Mpimba prison in the capital,
Bujumbura before authorities transferred him to Muramvya prison, about 50km (30
miles) outside the capital. Rugurika said that for two days during his
detention, he was held in a windowless cell 1.5m by 4m in size.
He told me no
reason for such treatment was given, but he believes the authorities were
attempting to scare him and other journalists into silence. The unwavering
support by the press and civil society has managed to dispel these fears,
Rugurika said. "The support shows how we stand and are engaged in our work
and how the people take pride in the media and civil society," he added.
Burundi's press, under the leadership of the Burundi Union of
Journalists, held protests called "Green Tuesdays" (green being the
color of Rugurika's prison uniform) urging Rugurika's release. "Every
Tuesday at 8 a.m., civil society and media professionals met and walked around
the courthouse with green T-shirts and placards with messages demanding the
release of Rugurika and justice for the Italian sisters who were murdered,"
union president Alexandre Niyungeko told me.
Many who participated in the
protests chanted "fear has changed sides" meaning Burundians are no
longer afraid of the authorities, even police retaliation, Niyungeko added.
Rugurika told me: "These marches have actually strengthened civil society
and proved [to them] that it can change things."
This show of solidarity comes as proposed changes to the law would
remove the threat of journalists being forced to reveal sources in court. The
legal changes would allow the press more freedom to report on key subjects in
the run-up to the 2015 elections, Radio Bonesha director Patrick Nduwimana
said.
Burundi is scheduled to hold legislative elections in May, presidential
elections in June, and senate elections in August, according to news reports.
The presidential elections are expected to be contentious because President
Pierre Nkurunziza is reported to be planning to change the constitution so he
can run for a third term, despite civil society groups warning of unrest and protests over such a move.
If the senate accepts the amendments to the press law, news outlets will
be able to challenge rulings by the state-run National Communications Council.
The council would no longer be able to immediately suspend a news outlet until
all court procedures have been completed, according to a copy of the amended
law in CPJ's possession.
Under the proposed changes, several journalists currently threatened with charges under the press law may be able to
carry out their work without fear of arrest and prosecution. There are at least
three cases in the past year and a half where state prosecutors have summoned
journalists and threatened to prosecute them for their reports on alleged
distribution of weapons to the youth-wing of the ruling party, Nduwimana told
me.
Press offences however, can still be considered criminal acts because
defamation is considered a criminal offence. The press fears authorities may
use this provision to silence critical reporting during the election period.
Rugurika is wary that more arrests may lie ahead for civil society and
journalists who oppose Nkurunziza's plans to change the
constitution in order to run for a third term. "There will be many
challenges," Rugurika said. "Especially imprisonment following
demonstrations against the president's attempt to run for a third term."
Tom Rhodes is CPJ's East Africa representative, based in Nairobi.
Rhodes is a founder of southern Sudan’s first independent newspaper. Follow him
on Twitter: @africamedia_CPJ
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