(JED/IFEX) – On 11 July 2003, Donatien Nyembo Kimuni, a correspondent in Lubumbashi (Katanga province’s main town, in the country’s southeastern region) for the independent Kinshasa-based weekly “La Tribune”, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by a court in Likasi, a town located 120 kilometres from Lubumbashi. The court also ordered his immediate arrest. “La […]
(JED/IFEX) – On 11 July 2003, Donatien Nyembo Kimuni, a correspondent in Lubumbashi (Katanga province’s main town, in the country’s southeastern region) for the independent Kinshasa-based weekly “La Tribune”, was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment by a court in Likasi, a town located 120 kilometres from Lubumbashi. The court also ordered his immediate arrest. “La Tribune” newspaper is distributed widely in Katanga province.
Nyembo Kimuni wrote an article entitled, “Congo Mineral: workers are paid poorly and exploited”, which was published in the 5 June edition of “La Tribune” (issue 556). In his article, the journalist, who based his article on a report from the public mining firm Gécamines and the testimony of several unnamed miners, denounced, “the systematic pillaging of Gécamines’ mining products” and the Congo Mineral company’s workers’ “poor working conditions.” Several workers at the mining firm have reportedly died from poisoning. Congo Mineral had issued a response to the article, which the newspaper said it published in accordance with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s press law.
The journalist and his Lubumbashi-based lawyers told JED they were unable to attend the 11 July court hearing in Likasi because of clashes between students and soldiers on the University of Lubumbashi campus, which broke out after a student was killed. “Bullets were flying everywhere … and all the roads leading out of the city were blocked by barricades that were set up and manned by armed soldiers,” the journalist added.
JED condemns this expeditious trial and sentencing and recalls that, according to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, “as punishment for the peaceful expression of an opinion, imprisonment constitutes a serious human rights violation”. As such, JED asks the state prosecutor to ensure that Nyembo Kimuni receives a fair and impartial trial.
