(RSF/IFEX) – On 12 August 2002, RSF expressed its concern over the death of freelance journalist Don Kulapani. The journalist was killed on 8 August during a hold-up at a bar in the capital, Lilongwe. The organisation called on the authorities to conduct a full investigation into the killing, which coincides with recent attacks on […]
(RSF/IFEX) – On 12 August 2002, RSF expressed its concern over the death of freelance journalist Don Kulapani. The journalist was killed on 8 August during a hold-up at a bar in the capital, Lilongwe. The organisation called on the authorities to conduct a full investigation into the killing, which coincides with recent attacks on journalists by the ruling United Democratic Front (UDF) party.
“We ask you to fully clarify the circumstances surrounding the journalist’s death and ensure that it was not linked to the exercise of his profession,” RSF Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in a letter to Interior Minister Monjeza Maluza. “The fact that it coincides with recent attacks on journalists by the UDF’s Youth League is troubling, to say the least,” Ménard said in the letter. He also asked that RSF be kept informed of the investigation’s progress.
A freelancer who used to work for “The Chronicle” newspaper, Kulapani was in a bar in the capital on 8 August when four armed men burst in and opened fire. They shot the journalist and subsequently stabbed him many times. The assailants took cases of beer, musical equipment and money from the cash register before leaving. Kulapani died as a result of his injuries.
The journalist’s death follows the release of a statement by the ruling UDF denying media claims that it had organised a unit tasked with silencing investigative journalists who “embarrass” the government. In early August, the National Media Institute of South Africa claimed to have discovered a UDF plot to attack journalists of the “Daily Times”, “Weekly Chronicle”, “Pride” and the BBC because they had accused the UDF of intending to change the constitution to allow President Bakili Muluzi to run for a third term in 2004.
Youth activists have been implicated in beatings of journalists who support the opposition party, especially journalists working for “The Chronicle”, Kulapani’s former employer. In November 2001, the “Daily Times” alleged that the UDF had compiled a list of journalists who “discredit the party” and intended to use its youth wing to attack them (see IFEX alert of 5 November 2001).
