(JED/IFEX) – Aimé Kakese Vinalu, publisher of the weekly “Le Carroussel”, is to appear before the Court of Military Order, charged with “threatening State security”. The date of his appearance has yet to be determined. Kakese was arrested on 23 June 2000. “I was told of the charge on Thursday 6 July 2000, in an […]
(JED/IFEX) – Aimé Kakese Vinalu, publisher of the weekly “Le Carroussel”, is to appear before the Court of Military Order, charged with “threatening State security”. The date of his appearance has yet to be determined. Kakese was arrested on 23 June 2000.
“I was told of the charge on Thursday 6 July 2000, in an underground cell at the National Information Agency (ANR), after my hearing with the military prosecutor, Commander Tsinu Pukuta,” the journalist told JED. Members of the organisation visited him on Sunday 9 July, at the Kinshasa Penitentiary and Re-education Center (Centre pénitentiaire et de rééducation de Kinshasa, CPRK, formerly known as Makala Central Prison), where he was transferred in the evening of the same day.
During his cross-examination, the military prosecutor asked Kakese to give his “intention and source of inspiration” for two articles published in the 22 June edition of his newspaper. The articles were titled “Kabila-Victor Mpoyo Dispute” and “A call for Opposition Unity”. The military prosecutor suggested that the purpose of the editorial titled “A call for Opposition Unity” was to “incite the Congolese opposition to rebel against the established power.”
The journalist told JED that prior to his transfer to the CPRK central prison, he was repeatedly beaten by officers of the Congolese National Police in the underground cells of “Kin-Mazière”.
