Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has called on the authorities in Burundi to release journalist Jean-Claude Kavumbagu, who has been held in custody for nearly six months at Mpimba prison in the capital Bujumbura. No trial has yet been opened in the case.
“Jean-Claude Kavumbagu should be released immediately. He was arrested last July and is about to begin the year 2011 behind bars without ever being put on trial. Pre-trial detention should remain an exceptional measure,” the worldwide press freedom organisation said.
Kavumbagu, held in jail since July 17, the editor of online publication Net Press, was accused of “treason” for posting an article the day after a double bombing in the Ugandan capital, Kampala left 76 dead, which was headlined “Will Burundi be the next target of the Somali al-Shabaab (Islamist militia)?”
“The accusation of treason against him is absurd, not only because Burundi is not at war but also because all the article did was to reflect on the capacity of Burundi’s army forces to react to a genuine threat,” said RSF Secretary General Jean-François Julliard.
The al-Shabaab Islamist group has just announced that new attacks would be launched against Burundi and Uganda, the two countries providing the lion’s share of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) deployed in Mogadishu to support the government. The Somali Islamists have also threatened to attack the United States.
