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A Rwandan court on Thursday sentenced a prominent YouTube commentator and genocide survivor to 15 years in prison for “inciting violence” after beating President Paul Kagame on his channel.
Yvonne Idamange is among many who have fallen in love with the authorities after turning to the video-sharing platform to post material criticizing the Kagame government, raising concern among international rights groups.
The 42-year-old mother of four, who was not in court for the verdict, was found guilty on six counts, sentenced to 15 years in prison and fined the equivalent of $ 2,000 – less than the 30 years and $ 6,000 requested by the prosecution. .
Idamange, who survived the 1994 genocide, was arrested in February for “demonstrating behavior that blended politics, crime and madness,” police said at the time.
The High Court in Kigali found her guilty of inciting violence and public uprising, denigrating genocide artifacts, spreading rumors and violent assaults, among other charges.
The accusations were based on comments on her popular YouTube channel “Idamange” in which she accused Kagame and his government of dictatorship and exploiting the genocide without giving sufficient welfare to the survivors.
His YouTube channel has 18,900 subscribers and an average of 100,000 views per video.
Idamange had accused the court of bias and boycotted the proceedings in June after his request to broadcast the trial online was rejected by the court.
Rwanda, ruled by Kagame since the end of a genocide that left some 800,000 dead, mostly ethnic Tutsi, has often been criticized for human rights violations and a crackdown on freedom of expression, criticism and the opposition.
In March, Human Rights Watch expressed concern over Kigali’s crackdown on people using YouTube or blogs to speak out on sometimes controversial issues in Rwanda.
HRW then said that at least eight people reporting or commenting on the news – including the impact of strict anti-Covid measures that have hit the poor hard – had been threatened, arrested or prosecuted in the past year.
He pointed to a 2019 statement from Kagame to highlight the dangers faced by those who use online platforms: “Those you hear about on the internet, whether they are in America, South Africa or France, they think that they are far away.
“They are far away, but they are near the fire. The day they get closer, the fire will burn them.”
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