91. As for accreditation, it is restricted to “any foreign journalist wishing to
cover one or several activities taking place on the territory of Burundi.”
One fails to see the basis for the complaint in this regard. Accreditation in
our view is a purely technical and administrative registration procedure
for foreign journalists – (see Scanlon & Holders ). In the circumstances,
it cannot amount to a violation of the freedom of the press.
92. Returning to the role of the National Communications Council, in Article
9 of the Press Law, “it reserves the right to refuse or withdraw
accreditation from journalists who abuse the facilities granted to them.”
Where is the violation of the freedom of the press when the Council can
only act in the event of abuse by the particular journalist? Freedom of the
press has never been an absolute right in any democracy and the
present limitation is reasonable and justifiable. In the circumstance, we
see no violation of Articles 6(d) and 7(2) as claimed with regard to
accreditation of foreign journalists who wish to cover any activity in
Burundi.
II.
Content-Based Restrictions:
93. Articles 17-19 of the Press Law are in Section 2 of that Law under the
sub-title, “Duties of Journalists.” The Applicant’s complaint relate to the
duties imposed on a journalist:i) to communicate only balanced information, the sources of which have
been rigorously checked – Article 17;
ii) to refrain from publishing or broadcasting information which contravenes
national unity, public order and security, morality and common decency,
honour and human dignity, national sovereignty, privacy, individuals and
presumption of innocence – Article 18;
iii) not to disseminate information which relate to national defence secrets,
the stability of the currency, privacy (including personal and
Reference No. 5 of 2013
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