(JED/IFEX) – On Wednesday 21 March 2001, lawyer Jean Kabongo Kalunda opposed the 16 March sentencing by the Kinshasa/Gombe High Court, which condemned journalist Jean-Luc Kinyongo Saleh to “four months in prison and immediate arrest”, as well as a fine of 500,000 Congolese francs (about US$2,500) in damages and interest to Minister of the Interior […]
(JED/IFEX) – On Wednesday 21 March 2001, lawyer Jean Kabongo Kalunda opposed the 16 March sentencing by the Kinshasa/Gombe High Court, which condemned journalist Jean-Luc Kinyongo Saleh to “four months in prison and immediate arrest”, as well as a fine of 500,000 Congolese francs (about US$2,500) in damages and interest to Minister of the Interior Gaëtan Kakudji. Kabongo is responding on behalf of Kinyongo, who gave him special power of attorney for this matter.
Lawyer Kabongo condemned the fact that this judgement, which is an ordinary occurence, was maliciously promoted in the public audio-visual press and in certain newspapers published in Kinshasa.
The Kinshasa/Gombe High Court found Kinyongo, publisher of the biweekly “Vision”, guilty of libelling the minister. In an article titled “Dénis Kalume Virtual Prime Minister”, which appeared in the 8 and 16 February editions of “Vision” (issues 181 and 182), the newspaper stated that “Gaëtan Kakudji is one of those people who have most benefited from the war economy, which allowed him to scandalously become the bourgeoisie in a flash.”
