(JED/IFEX) – On 13 May 2004 at 9:00 a.m. (local time), Ibrahim Kayembe and Ali Tshitoko, programming director and host with the broadcaster “Sumbula Number One”, respectively, were arrested by four Congolese Armed Forces (Forces armées congolaises, FAC) soldiers. The two journalists are being held in a detention centre at the First Company Battalion’s barracks […]
(JED/IFEX) – On 13 May 2004 at 9:00 a.m. (local time), Ibrahim Kayembe and Ali Tshitoko, programming director and host with the broadcaster “Sumbula Number One”, respectively, were arrested by four Congolese Armed Forces (Forces armées congolaises, FAC) soldiers. The two journalists are being held in a detention centre at the First Company Battalion’s barracks in Luiza.
Tshitoko is accused of having denounced, on the air that same morning, the alleged theft by soldiers of drinking water sold by local children.
According to information obtained at the scene by JED, at approximately 9:00 a.m., soldiers entered the studios of “Sumbula Number One” and proceeded to destroy audio and video cassettes found in the control room, before taking the journalists away.
JED was later able to reach the commander of the brigade responsible for the incident, Lieutenant-Colonel Marcel Amsini, by phone in Tshikapa. Amsini, who claims he was unaware of the incident, has promised to look into it and to “take care of [the situation] promptly.”
