(JED/IFEX) – Journalist Matthieu Kalume was physically assaulted by two soldiers in Goma, the main town in North-Kivu province, on 4 November 2003, at approximately 10:00 p.m. (local time), as he was leaving his office. Kalume, who produces a programme about young people for the provincial station RTNC/Goma, an affiliate of the national broadcaster Congolese […]
(JED/IFEX) – Journalist Matthieu Kalume was physically assaulted by two soldiers in Goma, the main town in North-Kivu province, on 4 November 2003, at approximately 10:00 p.m. (local time), as he was leaving his office.
Kalume, who produces a programme about young people for the provincial station RTNC/Goma, an affiliate of the national broadcaster Congolese National Radio-television (Radiotélévision nationale congolaise, RTNC), was attacked by two uniformed and armed soldiers who were reportedly working on security detail at the site where the radio station and the offices of several private telecommunications companies are located. Goma is under the administration of the former rebel group RCD/Goma
According to information received by JED, despite the fact that Kalume showed the soldiers his press card, they beat him up for several minutes and stole the money he was carrying. The journalist was helped by passengers in a passing car who intervened and demanded that the soldiers explain to them why they were beating him up. Kalume’s attackers were briefly distracted and he managed to escape and hide at a gas station until the next morning.
The RTNC/Goma’s provincial director told JED that the journalist was being treated for his injuries and that local police were searching for his attackers.
