Serge Kembila was attacked by a group of men hired as security for Evariste Boshab, Secretary General of the ruling People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy.
(JED/IFEX) – JED vehemently condemns the attack on Serge Kembila, a cameraman at Radio Télévision Groupe l’Avenir (RTG@), a private television station based in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kembila was attacked on 19 August 2011 at Martyrs of the Pentecost Stadium by a group of men hired as security guards for Evariste Boshab, Secretary General of the ruling People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD).
Kembila was accused of filming the empty stadium seats where the party’s second congress was being held. He was attacked immediately after having finished filming the Secretary General’s speech. His assailants also confiscated his videotape.
In an interview with JED, Kembila stated that he was attacked by a certain Mr. Willy, a bodyguard and close family member of the Secretary General. “When he read ‘RTG@’ on my press vest, he called over some other security guards, who attacked me and took my videotape. Mr. Willy accused me of filming the empty seats with the aim of tarnishing the image of the PPRD,” added Kembila.
