Journalist freed after nine months in jail
New York, August 4, 2006—Patrice Booto, publisher of two Congolese newspapers, was freed on Thursday evening after spending nine months in prison for running stories that said the government had directed millions of dollars to neighboring Tanzania, the local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger reported. “This egregious case highlights the urgent need for the…
Mob threatens photographer covering pre-election riot
New York, July 28, 2006—Journalist Emmanuel Makila was surrounded by rioters and threatened with death after an election rally by presidential candidate Jean-Pierre Bemba yesterday in Kinshasa. Makila, who works for private weeklies The Post and Révélateur, told the Committee to Protect Journalists he was saved by a few bystanders who pleaded with the mob…
Radio correspondent jailed for two days for “insulting” a governor
July 12, 2006 Posted July 18, 2006 Olivier Komfie Mabwava, Digital Congo FM IMPRISONED Mabwava, a correspondent for the Kinshasa-based radio station Digital Congo FM in the western province of Bandundu, was arrested and held for two days by the provincial public prosecutor. According to the Kinshasa-based press freedom organization Journaliste en Danger (JED), Mabwava…
Journalist released after more than two months in jail
JULY 10, 2006 Last Alert: June 23, 2006 Kazadi Kwambi Kasumpata, Lubilanji Expansion IMPRISONED, LEGAL ACTION Kasumpata, a journalist working for the small private weekly Lubilanji Expansion in the capital, Kinshasa, was provisionally released on July 5 after spending more than two months in prison on defamation charges. He was freed on orders from the…
CPJ condemns murder of freelance journalist
New York, July 10, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the murder of Bapuwa Mwamba, a Congolese journalist who worked for several local publications in the capital, Kinshasa. Mwamba was shot by unidentified gunmen who burst into his home July 8. CPJ is investigating whether the murder was linked to Mwamba’s journalistic work.
CPJ Condemns Expulsion of RFI Correspondent
New York, July 5, 2006 — The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the expulsion of Radio France Internationale (RFI) correspondent Ghislaine Dupont from the Democratic Republic of Congo where a landmark general election is scheduled for July 30. Dupont, who had been in the capital Kinshasa with a valid visa since April trying to obtain…
Journalist convicted in secret in defamation case, JED says
New York, June 23, 2006—A journalist imprisoned in the Democratic Republic of Congo since April on defamation charges was secretly convicted and sentenced to four months in jail over a week ago, a press freedom group reported today. The Kinshasa-based organization, Journaliste en Danger (JED), told the Committee to Protect Journalists that one of its…
CPJ protests spate of press attacks
Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists is increasingly alarmed by repeated attacks against the media in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Such attacks are all the more troubling in the current context of campaigning for presidential and parliamentary elections due July 30. While one journalist was released on bail Wednesday, another has been jailed for more than six months in connection with his work. At least two radio stations remain off the air after attacks by security forces, while CPJ sources report at least one violent attack on a journalist in recent weeks. The government has also blocked the accreditation of a veteran correspondent for Radio France Internationale (RFI).
Journalist freed on bail, another remains in prison
New York, June 14, 2006—A court in the Democratic Republic of Congo today freed radio journalist Pierre-Sosthène Kambidi on bail pending appeal of a defamation conviction, according to his lawyer and the Kinshasa-based press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED). Kambidi was arrested June 8 in the town of Tshikapa, and sentenced to three months…
Journalist given three months’ jail for defamation
New York, June 12, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a three-month prison sentence given to a radio journalist in the Democratic Republic of Congo for defaming a local police chief. Pierre-Sosthène Kambidi, of private radio station Concorde FM in the central town of Tshikapa, was sentenced on June 10, his lawyer said. Kambidi was…