Rwanda
Journalist acquitted, 14 years laterPosted Dec 17 2008
Former Rwandan reporter Dominique Makeli has been liberated after 14 years of imprisonment. Makeli’s release, which took place Oct. 13, stemmed from an Oct. 5 acquittal by a gacaca, or popular tribunal in the Kigali district of Nyarugenge. He had been incarcerated since September 1994.
This brings an end to an arduous battle for Makeli, who was arrested on charges of inciting genocide in reports. According to Reporters Without Borders, in an article he wrote about an alleged sighting of the Virgin Mary in Kibeho, Makeli quoted the Virgin as saying, “The parent is in heaven.” The prosecutor in his case interpreted the supposed quote as, “President Habyarimana is in heaven,” leading some to believe Maleki supported Habyarimana and, by proxy his massacring the Tutsi people. Maleki along with numerous local observers had contested this charge at the time, but exoneration was tediously unhurried for the reporter.