(JED/IFEX) – The following is a 2 November 2005 JED press release: Illegal detention of publisher of “L’Alerte” JED calls on intelligence agency’s general administrator not to be both judge and a party to the case and to transfer journalist’s case to the justice system Kinshasa, 2 November 2005 In a 1 November 2005 letter […]
(JED/IFEX) – The following is a 2 November 2005 JED press release:
Illegal detention of publisher of “L’Alerte”
JED calls on intelligence agency’s general administrator not to be both judge and a party to the case and to transfer journalist’s case to the justice system
Kinshasa, 2 November 2005
In a 1 November 2005 letter to Lando Lurhakumbirwa, general administrator of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR), JED expressed its concern and indignation over the abduction and illegal detention of Jean-Marie Kanku, publisher of the Kinshasa-based newspaper “L’Alerte”, who has been held for seven days at the ANR’s Petit Pont facility.
JED called on the ANR’s general administrator to simply release the journalist and, if he legitimately believes that the newspaper’s writings have damaged his honour and esteem, not to be both judge and a party to the case and to refer the matter to the justice system, which is the only institution with jurisdiction over press offences.
JED bases this demand on the following facts:
– The person who made the statements published in the newspaper, Member of Parliament (MP) Thierry Bongo, has not faced any sanctions.
– The evidence suggests that Kanku is the personal prisoner of Lurhakumbirwa because he dared to provide a forum for someone who criticised the ANR’s general administrator.
– On 8 March 2001, the head of state decided to close all illegal detention sites not under control of the Republic’s Public Prosecutor.
– No Congolese legislation gives the ANR a mandate to deal with press offences.
– The journalist suffers from hypertension and chronic gastritis. The diet he is reportedly subjected to can only worsen his condition.
Kanku was apprehended on 28 October on Lumumba Boulevard in Kinshasa’s N’Djili district by three armed men in civilian clothes who immediately took him to ANR headquarters in the Petit Pont district.
Until 31 October, in violation of the law, the journalist was not allowed to contact either his family or his editorial office. His wife spent the day of 31 October in front of the ANR offices hoping in vain to see her husband.
The previous week, “L’Alerte” published a series of articles in which MP Thierry Bongo harshly attacked the ANR’s general administrator, calling him an “enemy of the Congo” and accusing him, among other things, of misappropriating public funds allocated to his agency.
Tshivis Tshivuadi
Secretary General
D. M’Baya Tshimanga
President
