Rwanda defends suspension

No, no, no, of course the six-month suspension of two of Rwanda's independent newsweeklies just four months before the country's August 9 presidential elections has nothing to do with those papers' criticism of the RPF and support for opposition candidates. From the Economist:

Rwanda's Media High Council said the decision to suspend the Umuseso and Umuvugizi newspapers was based on their erroneous content.

"We are acting on the basis of the content of the publications. Elections are months away," said Patrice Mulama, Executive Secretary of Media High Council.

"This is not the first time we are suspending Umuseso for inciting the public. We suspended this paper in 2004 and 2009," he said. "We are challenging the professionalism of these papers and we have a firm ground to explain the case at hand to court."

So there. But, hey, if "erroneous content" is now grounds for shutting down Rwandan media outlets, I look forward to the closure of the government daily, the New Times. Goodness knows those editors could use six months to learn about professionalism and factual reporting.

CORRECTION - The above-linked to article is from Reuters, not The Economist. Thanks to the reader who caught my mistake.