Defamation threat against The New Times daily Newspaper

Sole daily owned by ruling party embroiled in partisan politics

By Expression Today
March 2010

Rwanda’s first and only daily, The New Times, has for the first time come under threat of defamation charges as it got embroiled in a political war of words with opposition politicians who accuse it of biased reporting.

The family of the late Emmanuel Akingeneye has threatened to sue the ruling party mouth piece for defaming their deceased relative for continuously trying to create a genocide link to the opposition leader Victoire Ingabire who is expected to tussle it out with President Paul Kagame in the upcoming presidential polls.

Akingeneye was the personal physician of former Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana who perished in the 1994 plane crash while returning form peace talks in Tanzania.

The family of Akingeneye claims the paper defamed the deceased when in a commentary published in on January 28, 2010, claiming that Therese Dusabe, the mother of Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza was Akingeneye’s concubine.

According to The New Times, a traditional (Gacaca) court of Butamwa sentenced Therese Dusabe in absentia to life imprisonment for her role in the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi.

The commentary titled “Ms Ingabire Victoire, an ardent advocate for racial politics, now resorts to the victimization card,” by a senior Rwanda Patriotic Front cadre in The New Times using the pseudo name of Felix Muheto intended to give a background of who Ingabire was.

The article said Akingeneye fathered Ingabire’s young sister, Regine Uwineza.

According to reports, Akingeneye’s daughter, also family lawyer, distanced the family from Ingabire saying a lawyer was traveling to Rwanda early February to sue The New Times for allegedly defaming their deceased father.

“This is a totally false story. Our family has no relation whatsoever with Ingabire and we don’t know her. The story was only intended to tarnish the reputation of the family. That’s why we want the author to provide evidence in court to support his allegations,” said Akingeneye’s daughter who is based in Brussels, Belgium.

It would be the first time, the ruling party’s mouth piece will be facing a defamation court case of any nature. The case is expected to raise heat with the powers in the country behind the newspaper.

While the Akingeneye family lawyer demands that the author of the article in question, Felix Muheto, give evidence to the said family relations, little do they know that Muheto is a pseudonym used in sensitive and controversial writings in defence of the government. Sources allege that Muheto is a top dog at The New Times who also used other names like Ngango Rukara or Rutigita Miheto. What is common between the pseudonyms in the writings is the consistency in the writing style and diction.

Court will therefore have work to do to get Muheto stand trial since it is generally believed that such names like Felix Muheto, Ngango Rukara or Rutigitamashumu are used by party big shots to publish political articles in the interest of the party.

Heat

Ingabire’s return to Rwanda on January 16 sparked off a political storm especially with the New Times where a war of words has raged.

While the New Times tries to push the ruling party’s desire to silence any opposition or any critical commentary from any media, analysts believe it has gone an extra mile to personalize politics making active opposition politicians appear as “deniers of the 1994 genocide.”

The New Times has also landed in another battle of words with Victoire Ingabire’s Unified Democratic Forces (UDF) Inkingi. Hostile letters have been flying.

In an undated letter a copy of which the ET saw, one of the party members, Chris Nzabandora, attacked the paper for ‘a nasty character assassination ploy’ on its presidential candidate.

The letter says the paper had a crude distortion of Ingabire’s statement at the Gisozi genocide Memorial on January 16, it had called for her arrest, and has subsequently resorted to hate editorials that implicate Ingabire in family criminal activities.

Nzabandora goes on to defend Ingabire’s mother as someone who has never been sentenced by any Gacaca court as alleged by the newspaper which he accuses of “cheap propaganda, to imply that genocide ideology is a family rooted crime to which every member has to answer”. He argues that Ingabire is in Rwanda to express the party’s views and not family or personal feelings.

In his response dated January 22, the managing director and chief executive of The New Times, Mr Joseph Bideri, told Ms Ingabire that all the editorials and commentaries referred to in the FDU letter were from statements made by the party and were on record.

“As a national publication that continues to play a critical role in the development of the country, our editorial line does not allow space to individuals or organizations with revisionist views and genocide deniers. It is the kind of rhetoric you have continued to articulate since your arrival in the country and we cannot give a platform to spread it,” the letter says in part.

More fireworks are expected as the political temperatures rise in the run up to the August presidential polls. The pressure for professionalism on The New Times is certain to erode to the real owners, who have remained confidential.

Related Materials:
The New Times and Mrs. Victoire Ingabire Umuhoza: A nasty character assassination ploy

Habyarimana Doctor’s Family to Sue Rwanda’s The New Times for Defamation