– Journalist arrested –
The United Nations warned last month that Burundi risked sliding back into civil war after a dramatic rise in killings, arrests and detentions, with almost 200,000 refugees fleeing to neighbouring nations.
Separately, in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundian radio journalist Egide Mwemero was arrested on Tuesday along with two local media workers, said Mutere Kifara, director of Burundi’s African Public Radio (RPA).
The radio station, which has been banned in Burundi and has since been headquartered in the South-Kivu province of DR Congo, was once the restive, landlocked country’s most popular.
The Congolese journalist and technician were released Wednesday, but Mwemero is still in custody, Kifara said.
Confirming his arrest, South-Kivu’s Information Minister Bernadette Masoka told AFP Mwemero had “used words that seriously threatened peace in Burundi”.
Media rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the arrest and called on the Congolese authorities to free the journalist immediately.
“This abrupt act of censorship by the Congolese government is unacceptable,” said Clea Kahn-Sriber, head of RSF’s Africa desk.
“The raid clearly reflects the wish of the Burundian authorities, whose desire to suppress all dissident reporting had been thwarted.”
Burundi and DR Congo are ranked 145th and 150th of 180 countries on RSF’s 2015 press freedom index.
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