“I condemn the murder of Jean-Léonard Rugambage,” declared the Director-General. “This odious crime,” Irina Bokova added, “is an attack on that fundamental right, the freedom of the press. I call on the authorities of the country to do everything in their power to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Jean-Léonard Rugambage, also known as “Sheriff”, was shot dead with four bullets at point blank range by unidentified criminals on the evening of 24 June when he was standing in front of his house in Nyamirambo district in Kigali.

Jean-Léonard Rugambage was deputy editor-in-chief of the Rwandan fortnightly Umuvugizi and was also Rwanda's correspondent for Journaliste en Danger (Journalists in Danger - JED), an NGO based in Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo).