Independent radio station still off the air

Radio Publique Africaine (RPA), one of Burundi's independent stations, remained off air on Tuesday, six days after the national communication council lifted a ban earlier imposed on its operations.

The director of RPA, Alexis Sinduhije, told a news conference that the radio station would not resume broadcasting because it did not recognise the council's authority.

"It is not [the council] which suspended our programmes," he said on Tuesday. "It cannot order the radio back on air."

Sinduhije maintained that only the head of state, who ordered the police to storm the station’s offices, could order it back on air.

"We urge the head of state to respect the procedures," he said, adding that the station management also needed to verify that all the equipment was intact after several days of forced closure.

Meanwhile, the head of the council, Jean-Pierre Manda, on Tuesday submitted his resignation to the country’s president, Domitien Ndayizeye, saying he wanted to scuttle rumours that he was settling a personal score when he ordered RPA's closure.

The council on 15 July suspended RPA indefinitely for what it called "biased reporting" during the run up to legislative elections held on 4 July. Ndayizeye's party lost the elections to a former rebel movement.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, which expressed shock at the closure of the station, said a large group of police officers broke into the station compound, padlocked its studios, and cut off its transmitter.