(JED/IFEX) – Jean-Jacques Luboya N’Samba Shake, publisher of the Lubumbashi-based weekly “La Vérité” (“The Truth”), who was arrested on 13 October 2005, was released on bail at around noon on 15 October, after a conditional release order was handed down by a Lubumbashi high court. Luboya was ordered to post bail in the amount of […]
(JED/IFEX) – Jean-Jacques Luboya N’Samba Shake, publisher of the Lubumbashi-based weekly “La Vérité” (“The Truth”), who was arrested on 13 October 2005, was released on bail at around noon on 15 October, after a conditional release order was handed down by a Lubumbashi high court. Luboya was ordered to post bail in the amount of 80,000 Congolese Francs (approx. US$170) and must appear before the court every Tuesday and Friday for the duration of the investigation.
Luboya faced defamation charges brought by several foreign businessmen based in Lubumbashi after articles in the 10 and 11 October editions of “La Vérité” implicated the men in smuggling operations. He appeared before a judge on 14 October. The publisher’s lawyers requested his immediate release, citing a breach of procedure in his arrest and assuring the judge that he would not try to escape.
JED welcomes the court’s decision, but stresses that Luboya should never have been held for 48 hours when his guilt had not been established. While smuggling continues to be widespread in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and particularly in Kasumbalesa, along the border between Zambia and DRC’s Katanga province, Congolese law allows for a judge to imprison journalists who report on the practice in order to protect the honour and dignity of those implicated in the trade.
It is on the basis of this unjust law, which dates back to the Mobutu dictatorship, that JED continues to press for the decriminalisation of press infractions other than incitement to racial hatred, violence or murder, or defense of criminal activity.
