Articles by Journaliste en danger (JED)
Journalist Bapuwa Mwamba’s killers sentenced to death by military court
(JED/IFEX) – On 24 August 2007, the Kinshasa/Matete Military Court pronounced its verdict in the murder trial of journalist Louis Bapuwa Mwamba’s killers, sentencing three of the defendants to death. Vungu Mbembo, Nkunku Makwala and Mangwele Lowayi were found guilty of “criminal conspiracy, armed robbery, illegal possession of firearms and war munitions, and non-premeditated murder”. […]
Private TV station shut down; several journalists questioned following broadcast of interview with rebel leader
(JED/IFEX) – A weekend of media repression in Kinshasa has resulted in at least four journalists being questioned for several hours by the intelligence services, the closing of a private TV station, and the confiscation of a tape recording of an interview with a rebel leader. Stéphane Kitutu O’Leontwa, general manager of CCTV/RALIK (Canal Congo […]
Police disperse photojournalists peacefully protesting their colleague’s murder in Kinshasa
(JED/IFEX) – On 16 August 2007, a peaceful march of about 100 photojournalists was dispersed in Kinshasa, the capital, by several Rapid Intervention Police (Police d’intervention rapide, PIR) officers. The police were called to the scene as the photojournalists headed to the Interior Ministry to deliver a statement. The march was organised by the National […]
Journalist receives death threat from police officer in Uvira
(JED/IFEX) – On 10 August 2007, Jean Berchimas Lulaca, a journalist with the Mitumba community radio station in Uvira, 120 km south of Bukavu, the main city of South Kivu province, in eastern DR Congo, was threatened with death by Fidel Mwenebatu, a police officer with the Kasenga police station. In a telephone conversation with […]
Two state TV journalists released after fifteen days in detention
(JED/IFEX) – Vincent Hata Mawika and Michel Shango Mpanya, journalists and union activists with state-owned Radio-Télévision Nationale Congolaise (RTNC) were released on 11 August 2007 at around 1:00 p.m. (local time) by the Kinshasa/Gombe High Court prosecutor on payment of US$120 bail each. The journalists’ release follows a request presented by the journalists’ lawyer who, […]
Photojournalist shot dead near his home in Goma
(JED/IFEX) – JED voiced dismay at the killing on 9 August 2007 of Patrick Kikuku Wilungula, photojournalist with the Agence Congolaise de Presse (ACP) in North Kivu province and the Kinshasa-based weekly “L’Hebdo de l’Est”, in Goma, eastern Congo. According to information obtained by JED from local witnesses, Kikuku was shot and killed near his […]
State TV union activist released after five days in detention
(JED/IFEX) – Eugène Risasi Tambwe, journalist and activist of state-owned Radio-Télévision Nationale Congolaise (RTNC) was released on 31 July 2007 at 3:00 p.m. (local time). On 2 August, Tambwe told Journalist in Danger (JED), that he was stripped of his shoes, handcuffed and whipped 30 times while held in a military camp. No charges were […]
Journalist attacked during opposition demonstration
(JED/IFEX) – JED is indignant and scandalised by the 23 July 2007 assault on Roland Tsapi, a journalist with the privately-owned daily “Le Messager” published in Doula, Cameroon’s economic capital, by riot police who had come to quell a peaceful opposition demonstration. JED notes that in central Africa, it is increasingly common during the repression […]