(JED/IFEX) – On Wednesday 28 February 2001, Guy Kasongo Kilembwe, editor-in-chief of the Kinshasa-based satirical weekly “Pot-Pourri”, was taken in for questioning by three officers of the Congolese National Police Special Services. Kasongo was detained on 30 June Avenue, close to Interfina, in Kinshasa/Gombe. JED representatives met with Kasongo on Saturday 3 March, between 4:00 […]
(JED/IFEX) – On Wednesday 28 February 2001, Guy Kasongo Kilembwe, editor-in-chief of the Kinshasa-based satirical weekly “Pot-Pourri”, was taken in for questioning by three officers of the Congolese National Police Special Services. Kasongo was detained on 30 June Avenue, close to Interfina, in Kinshasa/Gombe. JED representatives met with Kasongo on Saturday 3 March, between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. GMT, in his cell at the police station located in the abandoned yard of the Régina Hotel in Kinshasa/Gombe.
According to information obtained by JED, Kasongo’s statement was heard concerning information which was published in the Friday 23 February edition of the satirical newspaper “Pot-Pourri”. This edition of the newspaper was headlined: “Kabila II already entranced”. The article included a caricature showing President Joseph Kabila sitting with someone before him displaying his backside (a sign of a curse in the Democratic Republic of Congo). In another article, the newspaper drew up a list of ministers which the new president must absolutely get rid of. These included Gaëtan Kakudji, minister of state responsible for the interior. Kasongo told JED that his interrogation was more specifically focused on “the satirical newspaper’s demonstrated hatred towards the minister of state.”
In a press release sent to JED, “Pot-Pourri”‘s editorial staff added that the journalist, who is from Katanga, was also accused of working for “a newspaper which is opposed to the power held by his brothers from the province”. The journalist confirmed these remarks to JED representatives. He also said that he had received fifty lashes on the first day of his arrest.
