Radio back on air after 24-hour suspension

The privately owned Radio Public Africaine (RPA) resumed broadcasting on Monday, 24 hours after Burundi's National Communication Council (NCC) suspended its operations. Citing defamation, the council on Saturday also ordered the private news agency, Net-Press, to close for seven days. In a letter to the director of the station, the council accused RPA of slandering a number of citizens without giving them the right to response. It claimed the station had misled public opinion by misquoting a former head of state, Jean Baptiste Bagaza, on 11 December 2004. The council accused Net-Press of libel, saying it had accused the chairman of the National Committee for the Rehabilitation of War Victims, Frederic Bamvuginyumvira, of diverting aid intended for the hunger-stricken people of the eastern province of Muyinga. The chairman of the Burundi Union of Journalists, Augustin Kabayabaya, expressed his surprise at the council's readiness to shut up critical media at every occasion. Kabayabaya called the action against the media an extreme measure since "it punishes not only the journalists, but also their audience". Kabayabaya said the council's job was not only to punish, but to also promote the press, "which it never does". The council has been accused of acting under the orders of the government. The president appointed its members, who include some representatives of media associations.