Jailed Rwanda journalists' prison terms cut

KIGALI (AFP) - Rwanda's supreme court reduced the prison sentences Thursday being served by journalists Agnes Uwimana Nkusi and Saidati Mukakibibi.

Nkusi, editor of the Umurabyo newspaper, was last year convicted of defamation, causing divisions and denying Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

Mukakibibi, the publication's reporter, was found guilty of inciting civil disobedience.

The supreme court cleared Nkusi of genocide denial and promoting ethnic divisions, but upheld her convictions for defamation for insulting President Paul Kagame and inciting public disorder. Her total sentence was reduced to four years from 17.

The court upheld Mukabibibi's conviction for inciting civil disobedience but reduced her sentence from seven years to three years.

Chief Justice Sam Rugege said: "the fact that both are widows with children and one is HIV positive does not prevent them from being sentenced in accordance with the law."

"Freedom of expression ... is not an absolute right. Like other rights, it is subject to regulation," he said.

Defence lawyers had argued that Rwanda's High Court had erred in their application of the law, effectively placing the burden of proof on the defendants, while not giving due priority to fundamental rights of expression.

"We welcome the acquittal on charges of genocide denial and divisionism as well as the sentence reductions," Nani Jansen, who represented the journalists in their appeal for the London-based Media Legal Defense Initiative, told AFP. "But we will continue to explore options to clear their names fully."

The case drew widespread attention because of the severity of Nkusi's 17 year sentence.

In March 2011, the Rwandan government announced a series of media reforms.

Since then, no press outlets have been closed and no journalists have been charged with crimes related to their work. This stands in stark contrast to the string of media crackdowns during the run-up to the 2010 presidential election.