|
Journo likens Kagame to Hitler
20/03/2008 13:16 - (SA)
Kigali - A Rwandan journalist was summonsed by the judiciary for publishing a recent article likening President Paul Kagame to Adolf Hitler, a government media body said on Wednesday.
Bonaventure Bizumuremyi published his article in the independent Umuco newspaper, which also carried pictures of Kagame and the German dictator side by side.
"Bizumuremyi did not abide by the ethical code of conduct of the profession, we have decided to prosecute him," said Louis Kamanzi, from the Rwanda Committee for Ethical Journalism.
"He committed a crime of lese-majeste in daring to insult the head of state," Kamanzi said, adding that the journalist's press card would be cancelled.
Bizumuremyi had not been seen since Tuesday and some of his colleagues expressed concern over his fate.
"Right now, nobody knows of our colleague Bizumuremyi's whereabouts since his disappearance yesterday," said Jean Bosco Gasasira, who heads another independent publication.
"If there is an arrest, we demand that the law be respected," he said, admitting nevertheless that his colleague's article might have been considered "defamatory".
- AFP
|
News
