Former Prime Minister Pierre-Damien Habumuremyi has said he intends to sue a local Kinyarwanda newspaper, Rushyashya, for allegedly defaming him in a series of articles published after he was dropped from cabinet. 

Habumuremyi was yesterday reacting to a warning issued by Rwanda Media Commission (RMC) against the newspaper, following a complaint filed by Senator Consolee Uwimana, who was mentioned in the same reports.

In one of the articles titled, Ibimenyetso by’umugambi wa nyuma wa FDLR wo gutera u Rwanda, loosely translated as "Signs of FDLR’s final plan to attack Rwanda,” Rushyashya links the duo to the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a terrorist group operating in eastern DR Congo whose elements are largely blamed for the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

In particular, the article accuses the senator of being an ally of FDLR and facilitating its operations.

As for the former premier, it claimed he has since formed a camp of followers most of whom originate from the Northern Province and are supporters of FDLR.

The New Times has learnt that the case involving Rushyashya was first filed at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), but Police referred it to RMC.

Announcing the decision of RMC against Rushyashya, Cléophas Barore, a commissioner and member of RMC’s Ethics Committee, said: "After assessing all aspects of the story, we found strong reasons to believe that the aforementioned story did not meet ethical and professional standards that guide journalists in Rwanda, during the writing, editing and publication processes, hence a decision was reached to sanction Rushashya newspaper.”

The ethics committee imposed a punishment that will be composed of a public written censure.

The apology would be required within five days after the decision is published on the RMC web site by its legal representative.

RMC faulted Rushyashya for violating the obligations of; honesty, search for truth, separating opinions of a journalist from facts and social responsibility, inciting hatred, giving concerned parties a chance to respond as stipulated in the journalistic code of ethics.

Reacting to the development, Habumuremyi said he wouldn’t say much about RMC’s decision since he was also considering taking the case further.

"I am considering taking legal action against Rushyashya. They attacked me, attacked my reputation, my family and went to the extreme of linking me with FDLR, which is something I cannot ignore,” he said.

He added that the paper published a series of articles about him and at one point claimed that he was in jail and another article about his daughter.

"Not a single day did they call to try to reach out to me for clarifications. Why would I work with a terrorist group? Why would I flee my country? I was appointed prime minister, I served and I am still ready to serve my country in any capacity. I am an RPF member and I will always be. What Rushyashya wrote is total defamation,” he said.

"I adopted a daughter from Nyundo orphanage at a time when we decided to close orphanages in the country, Rushyashya instead wrote an article that my daughter gave birth to a child and I decided to take the child to an orphanage and later I had to get back the child from the orphanage. This is completely unprofessional journalism; they have no proof to anything they write about me.”

RMC said they called Senator Uwimana over the complaint she filed but she did not show up.

"I wasn’t reporting the case; I was exposing the level of unprofessionalism and blackmail in the story published by Rushyashya. I am a politician who meets journalists on a daily basis. I decided not to meet the writer because I did not want to be haunted by the lies fabricated against me,” the senator said.

The proprietor of Rushyashya, Jean-Gualbert Burasa, however, said he was ready to go to court.

"These people are using RMC and I am not happy with that. Habumuremyi wants to use whatever comes out of RMC as evidence to take to court, that’s all I can say about this issue,” Burasa told The New Times.

Plagiarism

Rushyashya also featured again in another case of plagiarism jointly with online newswire, www.imirasire.com, in a case filed by Great Lakes Voice.

The two outlets were accused of picking a story from the Greats Lakes Voice and reproducing it without attributing the source.

Prince Bahati, a commissioner who presided over the hearing, said: "Rushyashya claimed that they picked the story from www.imirasire.com and were not aware it was lifted from Great Lakes Voice.

They apologised for not attributing the source and were instructed to correct it.

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The law on defamation

Article 288 of the Penal Code says any person who, maliciously and publicly, commits a specific act against another person which is likely to damage the honour or dignity, or bring them to public contempt shall be liable to a term of imprisonment of six months to one year and a fine of Rwf1 million to Rwf5 million or both.