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Rwanda YouTuber, Dieudonné Niyonsenga, loses appeal for breaching COVID-19 protocol, risks 7-year jail term

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Popular Rwandan YouTuber, Dieudonné Niyonsenga has had his appeal turned down, a seven-year jail sentence slammed on him by a High Court in November 2021 on charges of assault, obstructing police officers, and practicing journalism without a press card.

Niyonsenga’s problems date back to 15 April 2020, when he was arrested while on his way to cover the impact of the government’s coronavirus lockdown, and was charged with contravening the lockdown and showing false press cards to the police.

Niyonsenga is the proprietor and a reporter for Ishema TV, a YouTube channel that gives reportage on a wide variety of issues like local politics, culture, and human rights.

The Rwanda Investigation Bureau, in charge of criminal investigations, on April 15, 2020, took to Twitter to announce the arrest of the popular YouTuber and a driver of Ishema TV, Fidele Komezusenge, for allegedly breaching COVID-19 lockdown rules.

The bureau claimed the YouTuber resisted orders from officials to go home, arguing that he was a journalist and is permitted movement during the lockdown. He was also accused of forging press cards.

Prosecutors alleged that Niyonsenga had forged press cards for himself and Komezusenge, saying that only the Rwanda Media Commission could issue such cards, according to the court documents and the person who spoke with CPJ. The crime of forgery carries a prison term of up to seven years under Rwanda’s 2018 criminal code.

Prosecutors also alleged that because he did not have an accreditation from the RMC, Niyonsenga was impersonating a journalist, according to the person who spoke to CPJ and the court documents. Prosecutors also accused Komezusenge of impersonation, saying he did not have journalistic qualifications or RMC accreditation, according to the court documents.

Niyonsenga and Komezusenge pleaded not guilty to the charges. Their defence argued that Rwandan law permitted citizens to establish websites to disseminate information; that Ishema TV was properly registered; that Niyonsenga had a right to issue company ID cards; and that accreditation by the RMC did not have journalistic status to anyone.

Both were remanded for the duration of their trial, according to media reports. On March 12, 2021, the Gasabo Intermediate Court in Kigali acquitted them both, and they were released on March 13, according to Niyonsenga’s lawyer.

However, prosecutors appealed Niyonsenga’s acquittal, and on November 11, 2021, the High Court in Kigali convicted him of forgery, impersonation and humiliating state officials, according to media reports.

Niyonsenga was fined 5 million Rwandan Francs (US$4,900) by the court and was sentenced to seven years in prison, the maximum prison term for forgery, according to media reports. Shortly after the court’s ruling, police detained Niyonsenga from his home in Kigali, according to the journalist’s Twitter posts and media reports.

The journalist had posted videos that indicted soldiers of severe abuses against poor persons during the coronavirus lockdown.

The YouTuber and his lawyer were absent in court. His father was present in court as the ruling that upheld the sentence was made, even though no new evidence was made.

Human Rights Watch has accused Rwanda earlier in the week of censoring freedom of speech and demanded the immediate release of Niyonsenga and other bloggers, activists, and journalists.

However, the government has issued a statement dismissing the concerns raised by the rights group, saying everyone was equal before the law.

Metro

10 persons on FBI wanted list arrested in Nigeria– FG

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The Nigerian government has confirmed that at least 10 persons who were on the wanted list of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and on the watchlist of the Interpol have been arrested while attempting to sneak into Nigeria.

Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who revealed this during the unveiling of the Technology Innovation Complex at the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters, Abuja on Tuesday by President Bola Tinubu, said the wanted persons were arrested after intense intelligence.

The minister said the newly-installed facility at the centre would ascertain the risk level of persons entering the country, detect irregular migration patterns, and monitor unmanned borders in hard-to-reach areas nationwide.

“In the last couple of days, there were 10 people who were on the interpol and immigration wanted list who were apprehended in one week,” Tunji-Ojo told the President.

“Before now, those people would have entered Nigeria, caused terror. But we have now told them that under the new leadership, Nigeria is a no-go area for any criminal element,” he explained.

Tunji-Ojo further stated that aside from an installed solar power plant of 0.5KWs, 250 trained officers maintain eight-hour shifts to monitor the borders round the clock.

“We decided to do an end-to-end solution. One that has an energy solution to power this facility. The 0.5KW solar power plant is 100 per cent ready here and it has been connected to the facility to power it.

“Also, the human factor is fundamental because you can build a structure, but how about the human element?

“What we’ve been able to do is to train 250 officers. As I speak, we run shifts of eight hours three times a day which is 24/7 surveillance,” he said.

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Zambia: Ex-President Lungu alleges political manipulation after barring from 2026 poll

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Former Zambian President, Edgar Lungu, has described his ban from participating in the 2026 presidential election by the Constitutional Court as political manipulation rather than constitutional principles.

Lungu who reacted to the decision of the court to bar him from future elections, described the verdict as anticipated but reflective of political interference but vowed to focus on a ‘Plan B’ strategy following the Constitutional Court judgment.

Lungu who bared his mind in a statement issued on Tuesday in Lusaka, said the verdict was anticipated but reflective of political interference.

“We find ourselves at a critical juncture in our nation’s history, a moment marked by deep reflection and, I dare say, a profound sense of our common identity and destiny. The verdict rendered today was expected,” Lungu stated.

“For months, the hands of political manipulation have, with undeniable force, steered us toward a conclusion foreseen not by the merits of reasoned argument or constitutional fidelity but by the weight of orchestrated design and political machinations.”

Lungu however, urged Zambians to revisit the sequence of events leading up to the judgment, claiming his exclusion from politics was driven by calculated political interventions.

“It began with a petition that sought to exclude me from the political arena—not through the natural verdict of the people on the ballot paper, but by the calculated intervention of political forces sponsored by political players,” he explained.

The former president also accused unnamed actors of restructuring the judiciary to achieve their objectives.

“Yes, specific judges were expelled in order to retain specific judges specifically for today’s judgment! We saw decisions cloaked in procedural justifications concocted by that same unmistakable hand of expediency.

“Of course, we all witnessed calculated judicial reshuffles by politicians for their plan to land here today.

“Democracy, my fellow citizens, is not merely a system of governance but the lifeblood of our national identity.”

Lungu also announced that a “Plan B” had been initiated and would focus on upholding the power of the people.

“Plan B will prove that no machination can extinguish the power of the Zambian people and that institutions must serve the public, not the ambitions of a few,” he emphasized.

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