In April, Rwanda's Media High Council suspended Umuseso, the nation's once-leading independent weekly paper, for a period of six months. The paper's editors already faced two pending criminal defamation cases. (Under Rwandan law, editors cannot publish if they have a criminal record.)
"The criminal cases against us [are] so heavy - up to 25 years in prison, plus I am under intense surveillance, more than ever," deputy editor Didas Gasana told me while still in Kigali. "As things appear now, the country has become practically impossible for any critic or any opposition." Soon after Gasana explained his situation to me, he fled the country. Umuseso was no more.
By June, life had become too difficult for the main players behind Umuseso. Chief editor Charles Kabonero and web editor Richard Kayigamba found themselves in exile along with Gasana. (I am not disclosing their current location, since this information could put them at risk.)
Read the full blog post on http://cpj.org.
