(JED/IFEX) – Delly Bonsange, publisher of the newspaper “Alerte Plus”, who is serving a six-month sentence at Kinshasa’s Penitentiary and Reeducation Centre (Centre pénitentiaire et de ré-éducation de Kinshasa (CPRK, former central prison), was urgently transferred to Kinshasa’s General Hospital on 26 September 2002. The CPRK prison doctor ordered his transfer after examining Bonsange and […]
(JED/IFEX) – Delly Bonsange, publisher of the newspaper “Alerte Plus”, who is serving a six-month sentence at Kinshasa’s Penitentiary and Reeducation Centre (Centre pénitentiaire et de ré-éducation de Kinshasa (CPRK, former central prison), was urgently transferred to Kinshasa’s General Hospital on 26 September 2002. The CPRK prison doctor ordered his transfer after examining Bonsange and noting his unusually high blood-sugar levels.
A JED representative visited Bonsange at the hospital on 29 September. The publisher, who is being watched by two police officers, seemed very tired. He told JED that he had received medical treatment, but is unable to pay for all the medication prescribed to him.
Bonsange stated that his health deteriorated following the announcement of his conviction and sentence. He also attributed his failing health to the fact that in the first days of his detention he was unable to follow his usual diet and was barred from taking his diabetes medication.
On 6 September, a Kinshasa/Ndjili court sentenced Bonsange and journalist Raymond Kabala to six and 12 months’ imprisonment, respectively, and ordered them to pay a US$300,000 fine to Minister of Security and Public Order Mwenze Kongolo.
The journalists’ lawyers appealed the ruling. The next hearing in the case is scheduled for 4 October before the Kinshasa/Ndjili High Court.
