John Williams Ntwali, 44, editor -in -chief of the newspaper “The Chronicles”, was killed on January 18 on Moto after being struck by a vehicle. The Reporters Without Borders Organization evokes a “homicide”.
mo12345lemonde with AFP
The investigation into the death of a famous journalist in Rwanda, critic of the regime of President Paul Kagame, is “opaque” and “leaves many gray areas”, denounced Friday, February 10, reporters without Borders (RSF), evoking a “homicide”.
John Williams Ntwali, 44, editor -in -chief of The Chronicles newspaper, died on January 18 when a vehicle struck the motorcycle on which he was as a passenger near the capital Kigali.
The driver involved in the accident, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced on February 7 to pay a fine of a million Rwandan francs, around 860 euros.
RSF, which points in a press release a “lightning trial”, “denounces an opaque procedure which leaves many gray areas on the circumstances of his death”.
“This judgment was rendered on the basis of an investigation which was never made public and which obviously was content to take into account the hypothesis of an accident, without exploring others tracks “, according to the NGO. “In 2012, the journalist, who was already the subject of threats, had been the victim of a similar accident to which he had survived,” said RSF.
“860 euros, is that the price of a homicide of a journalist in Rwanda?” Asked the director of the RSF Africa office, Sadibou Marong.
In a tweet on January 23, government spokesperson Yolande Makolo had raised “baseless innuendos”.
Rwanda classified 136ᵉ out of 180 for press freedom
At the end of January, 90 human rights organizations, mainly African, had called the Rwandan authorities to “an independent, impartial and effective investigation” which would be based on “international experts”, after the “suspicious death” of the famous journalist.
“Ntwali”, as many called him, had been placed many times in prison during his career – sometimes for a few hours, sometimes several weeks. He had founded the Pax TV channel on YouTube, mainly broadcasting interviews, in Kinyarwanda language, of dissident voices.
since the end of the 1994 genocide, which left at least 800,000 mainly Tutsi dead, Rwanda is directed with one hand of iron by Paul Kagame. Praised for the successes of his development policy, the president is also criticized by human rights groups for his repression of freedom of expression.
The country is classified at 136ᵉ rank out of 180 countries for RSF press freedom. “Since 1996, eight professionals have been killed or have been missing, and 35 have been forced to exile,” wrote RSF in particular on his website. Over the past ten years, the independent media have grown up, blocked by power.