Cyuma Hassan’s case at the Court of Appeal was postponed after intense arguments
The Court of Appeal postponed the trial of Journalist Niyonsenga Dieudonné known as Cyuma Hassan, after several arguments .
Cyuma Hassan is the owner of the YouTube channel called ISHEMA TV, and he was convicted by the Court of Appeal of the crimes of creating and using fake documents, pretending to be a journalist and obstructing the implementation of administrative tasks, and he was sentenced seven years of prison. However it is very clear to anyone who knows Cyuma and other independent institutions like human right watch, that the crimes he is accused of are fabricated, same as everyone else who criticizes the government, or who have different ideas from the RPF where they are accused of crimes and imprisoned for no reason.
Many organizations have been reporting the abuse of this journalist, including Human Rights Watch, but nothing has changed. After the Supreme Court’s decision, he was still sentenced seven years in prison.
After this decision, Cyuma Hassan again requested to review the case on a new point because in the court’s decision there is a place where the judge used a line given by the Supreme Court in a case that had not yet been decided.
During their hearing on January 10, 2024, Cyuma Hassan told the Court that he is not ready to go to trial because he has not had the opportunity to read the contents of the file.
He also explains that the prison is torturing him until the files that his lawyers have brought him are not delivered to him.
He told the court that he was not informed that he would be going to trial on this date except his lawyers but he was never informed that he would have to go to trial because he came without knowing where he was going.
Cyuma Hassan told the Court that in addition to the seizure of documents revealing information on his file, he was also detained in a different prisons, and that he was being tortured.
Mr. Gatera Gashabana said that all the documents related to the file were sent to him but he never received them.
Cyuma Hassan said in a statement that he has been imprisoned for three years in a place where he cannot see and is being abused.
He said that prison officials may have refused to inform him that he will appear in court today because of the injuries caused by them.
The Court of Appeal has decided that the case will be heard again on February 6, 2024.
Cyuma Hassan asked for his trial to be postponed