Burundi set to ease media restrictions

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BUJUMBURA, BURUNDI: BD Live reports Burundi's national assembly has approved a draft media law, backtracking from contentious 2013 legislation that was denounced by reporters and rights groups as an assault on press freedoms.

Bujumbura... the new law is an improvement on the old, but there still reservations. (Image: Public Domain)

The old law banned the media from publishing stories about national defence, public safety and even the local currency. It also threatened to punish reporters who broke the rules with fines well above their wages and forced them to reveal sources.

Though an improvement, the new draft law still allows for a journalist or media company to be prosecuted for publishing "news which violates Burundi criminal law" and there are fears in some quarters that is could be used to harass the media and inhibit a free media.

Read the article Burundi legislators pass media bill to expand press freedom...