(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is protesting the arrest of a journalist. According to RSF’s information, Kabeya Pindi Pasi, chief editor of the weekly “Numerica”, was arrested on the afternoon of 23 December 1998. The journalist was taken to the public prosecutor’s office and placed in the “criminal record” cells in Kinshasa. This arrest follows a slander […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF is protesting the arrest of a journalist. According to
RSF’s information, Kabeya Pindi Pasi, chief editor of the weekly “Numerica”,
was arrested on the afternoon of 23 December 1998. The journalist was taken
to the public prosecutor’s office and placed in the “criminal record” cells
in Kinshasa. This arrest follows a slander complaint filed by Michel Ladi
Luya, president of Cascrom (a journalists’ organisation) and chief editor of
“Palmarès”. In his newspaper, Kabeya Pindi Pasi had denounced the poor
management by Cascrom of a one million dollar donation by President
Laurent-Désiré Kabila towards the Congolese press.
Further to these accusations, the Information Minister had called for the
formation of a new journalists’ organisation which would administer the
stock of paper donated by the Chinese government, which Kabeya Pindi Pasi
was responsable for. In recent weeks, the two men had confronted each other
through their respective newspapers. According to RSF, the journalist is a
victim of influence peddling by the President of Cascrom.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the President:
Pindi Pasi
notably
the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by the
Democratic Republic of Congo, which states that each individual has a right
to spread information, the charges against the chief editor of “Numerica”
cannot justify his incarceration
Appeals To
Mr. Laurent-Désiré Kabila
President
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo
Fax: +243 88 02120 / +1 202 234 2609
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
