(JED/IFEX) – In its 9 March 2000 edition (no. 1780), the pro-government daily “Le Palmarès” stated on its front page that on Sunday 5 March, “Michel-Ladi Luya escaped death” on Nguma avenue in Kinshasa/Ngaliema. According to the newspaper, “at 3:00 p.m., Michel-Ladi Luya was leaving his Macampagne residence to go out to a restaurant (…) […]
(JED/IFEX) – In its 9 March 2000 edition (no. 1780), the pro-government daily “Le Palmarès” stated on its front page that on Sunday 5 March, “Michel-Ladi Luya escaped death” on Nguma avenue in Kinshasa/Ngaliema.
According to the newspaper, “at 3:00 p.m., Michel-Ladi Luya was leaving his Macampagne residence to go out to a restaurant (…) where he was to be interviewed by the local television station.(…) However, in front of Macampagne’s Saint-Luc Church, an unforeseen event took place. His car’s brakes did not work, despite the fact that the car was brand new. This proves that the incident was the result of premeditated sabotage”. Having judged that there was nothing he could do, Luya, who was behind the wheel, struck a BMW car on purpose, thereby immobilising his jeep. The newspaper further explained that the journalist was put under observation for a night at Kinshasa’s medical centre.
According to the newspaper “Le Palmarès”, “the car’s braking system had been sabotaged by an amoral mechanic who was acting on behalf of jealous persons who are determined to kill the journalist, because of his political viewpoints”. In fact, the newspaper states that three days prior to the incident, a “mysterious caller with a gloomy voice” had called to threaten: “We are finally going to do away with your boss…we are going to kill Michel-Ladi.”
This is the second time that “Le Palmarès” has reported on death threats against its publisher. On the first occasion, in December 1998, the newspaper blamed “extremists” close to opposition politician Etienne Tshisekedi, president of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (Union pour la démocratie et le progrès social, Udps). At the time, this information was not confirmed by any independent source.
