**Updates IFEX alerts of 27 and 6 June, 24, 4 and 3 May, 4 April, 14 and 7 March, 24 and 16 February, 20, 19, 18, 11 and 7 January 2000** (JED/IFEX) – In a 1 September 2000 letter to JED from his cell in the Penitentiary and Re-Education Centre of Kinshasa (CPRK, formerly the […]
**Updates IFEX alerts of 27 and 6 June, 24, 4 and 3 May, 4 April, 14 and 7 March, 24 and 16 February, 20, 19, 18, 11 and 7 January 2000**
(JED/IFEX) – In a 1 September 2000 letter to JED from his cell in the Penitentiary and Re-Education Centre of Kinshasa (CPRK, formerly the central prison of Makala), Freddy Loseke Lisumbu la Yayenga, publisher of the newspaper “La Libre Afrique”, stated that he is “very sick” and that he has been bed-ridden for ten days. Loseke adds that his right leg is paralysed and that he suffers from kidney failure.
In a press release on the same day, the editorial staff of the newspaper “La Libre Afrique” maintains that the doctors treating Loseke at the University Clinics of Mont-Amba had already diagnosed this illness. In addition, according to the same source, this kidney failure was confirmed in the 29 and 31 August reports by the CPRK’s medical centre.
Loseke’s lawyer, Jean-Marie Eley Lofele, wrote to Justice Minister Mwenze Kongolo to request his release. Eley maintains that, as the “La Libre Afrique” press release explains, Loseke deserves this release because he has already served a quarter of his sentence, that is, nine months in prison.
Loseke was arrested on 31 December 1999 and in May 2000 was tried and sentenced by the Court of Military Order (Cour d’ordre militaire, COM, a special military jurisdiction that acts as a court of first and last resort) to three years in prison for “insulting the army”.
In late December 1999, “La Libre Afrique” published two articles implicating high-ranking officers of the Congolese Armed Forces (FAC) in a plot against President Laurent-Désiré Kabila.
Loseke maintains that he was tortured during the long detention (in a military camp) that preceded his trial.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the authorities:
– calling for Loseke’s release and his transfer to a specialised medical centre
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:
Monsieur Laurent-Désiré Kabila
Président de la République démocratique du Congo
Palais de la Nation
Kinshasa/Gombe
Fax: +234 88 02120/202 234 2609
E-mail: (President’s press service): upp@ic.cd
Monsieur Gaetan Kakudji
Ministre d’Etat chargé des Affaires intérieures
Kinshasa/Gombe
Monsieur Dominique Sakombi Inongo
Ministre de la Communication
19ème étage
Tour administrative de La Cité de La Voix du Peuple
Kinshasa/Lingwala
E-mail: mininfordc@ic.cd
Monsieur Luhonge Kabinda Ngoy
Procureur général de la République
Building INSS – Boulevard du 30 juin
Kinshasa/Gombe
Appeals should also be sent to the diplomatic mission of the Democratic Republic of Congo in your country.
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
