(JED/IFEX) – In an article published in its Wednesday 8 November 2000 edition, the pro-government daily “L’Avenir” claims to have again received threats. According to the article, Brigitte Muabilu Musumba, “L’Avenir”‘s administrator-financial director, received an anonymous telephone call on Tuesday 7 November. She happened to be in the newspaper office at the time. The unidentified […]
(JED/IFEX) – In an article published in its Wednesday 8 November 2000 edition, the pro-government daily “L’Avenir” claims to have again received threats.
According to the article, Brigitte Muabilu Musumba, “L’Avenir”‘s administrator-financial director, received an anonymous telephone call on Tuesday 7 November. She happened to be in the newspaper office at the time. The unidentified caller told Muabilu that “L’Avenir”‘s office would shortly be sacked. He then abruptly hung up the phone. JED received this information from Muabilu herself.
The management and personnel of “L’Avenir” are seriously concerned by this threat.
“L’Avenir” was already raided by a group of Congolese Armed Forces (Forces armées congolaises, FAC) soldiers on 6 October. At the time, the newspaper’s computers and other communications equipment were confiscated by the soldiers. A few hours later, the damaged materials were returned. The newspaper was forced to cease publishing for a few days as a consequence of these events. Moreover, some of the newspaper’s employees were beaten and otherwise mistreated at the Kokolo military base in Kinshasa / Bandalungwa, headquarters of the FAC’s Seventh Military Region.
Muabilu became director of “L’Avenir” after her husband, Pius Muabilu Mbayu Mukala, was appointed member of parliament by President Laurent-Désiré Kabila.
