Radio journalist Joseph Ebondo and editor Sylvain Kiomba are detained by DRC's national intelligence agency, over a broadcast alleging the agency operates secret prisons.
This statement was originally published on cpj.org on 12 January 2023.
Both journalists were released unconditionally on January 7, according to Ebondo and that report.
According to a report by the U.N.-sponsored broadcaster Radio Okapi and a letter condemning the arrests by the local chapter of the National Union of the Congolese Press, ANR agents accused Kiomba and Ebondo of defamation and questioned them about a January 4 Shilo FM broadcast of a statement by a local civil society leader, who alleged that the ANR operated secret illegal holding cells in Lubao.
CPJ called and messaged Lomami Governor Nathan Ilunga and his deputy, Jean-Claude Lubamba, but did not receive any response. CPJ called Yangoba, but the call did not connect.
