(JED/IFEX) – On 28 May 2001, the Court of Matadi, 350 km south-west of Kinshasa in Lower-Congo province, sentenced journalists Washington Lutumba and Jules-César Mayimbi to forty-five days in prison plus payment within ten days of 25,000 Congolese francs (about US$70) in damages. Given that the two journalists had already spent fifty-six days in detention, […]
(JED/IFEX) – On 28 May 2001, the Court of Matadi, 350 km south-west of Kinshasa in Lower-Congo province, sentenced journalists Washington Lutumba and Jules-César Mayimbi to forty-five days in prison plus payment within ten days of 25,000 Congolese francs (about US$70) in damages. Given that the two journalists had already spent fifty-six days in detention, the court declared them free.
Lutumba and Mayimbi, correspondents for the dailies “Le Potentiel” and “Forum des As”, were arrested on 30 March and 5 April, respectively, and held in the Matadi central prison. They had published articles denouncing the sale of wheat flour unfit for human consumption on the Lower-Congo province market. Prosecuted for “harmful accusations,” the two journalists were granted a temporary release on 18 May. At the hearing on 21 May, the case was heard in depth and taken into deliberation. The lawyer for the plaintiff (the Joseph Bakery) asked the court for symbolic damages of 100 Congolese francs (less than US$ 1). The public prosecutor, for his part, called for a sentence of 180 days in prison.
The journalists’ lawyers, Beta Massolori and Hervé Diakiese, argued mainly for the inadmissibility of the civil suit and for acquittal due to the unintentional nature of the infractions with which the accused had been charged.
For further information, contact D. M’Baya Tshimanga, president, or Mwamba wa ba Mulamba, secretary-general, Journaliste en danger (JED), B.P. 633 Kinshasa 1, Democratic Republic of Congo, tel. +243 99 29 323, +243, 99 29 345, fax: +243 12 21974, e-mail: jedkin@ic.cd, Internet: http://www.congonline.com/Jed
