(JED/IFEX) – On 19 June 2004, a court in Beni, North Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), sentenced Nicaise Kibel-Bel-Oka, publisher-editor of the Beni-based “Les Coulisses” newspaper, to six months in prison and payment of US$5,000 in damages and interest. On 20 June, JED was able to contact one of the journalist’s colleagues […]
(JED/IFEX) – On 19 June 2004, a court in Beni, North Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), sentenced Nicaise Kibel-Bel-Oka, publisher-editor of the Beni-based “Les Coulisses” newspaper, to six months in prison and payment of US$5,000 in damages and interest.
On 20 June, JED was able to contact one of the journalist’s colleagues who explained that shortly before his imprisonment, Kibel-Bel-Oka was detained at his residence at about 3:00 p.m. (local time) by four military intelligence agents with an arrest warrant. The agents said they were acting on orders from Public Prosecutor Tupa Kamango. They took the journalist directly to Beni central prison, where he was informed of the verdict in the case, which pits the journalist against a Mr. Kiangu, a high-profile businessman in that part of the country.
In reality, the verdict represents a simple renewal of the same court’s 16 March ruling against the journalist in his absence. At the time, his lawyers denounced procedural errors in the case and called for a re-opening of the trial to allow the journalist to defend himself.
BACKGROUND:
On 2 March, a Beni court sentenced Kibel-Bel-Oka to five years in prison and payment of US$2,000 in damages and interest for “defamation” and “fraud” against Kiangu. The sentence was curiously revised to six months in prison and payment of US$5,000 when the journalist was notified of the court’s decision on 20 March.
JED contacted the Beni court judge on 24 March. According to him, “Les Coulisses” published an article in which it accused the businessman of defrauding the customs services by covertly bringing a truck carrying merchandise from Uganda into the country and making a false customs declaration concerning oil imports. The newspaper reportedly claimed that the scheme defrauded the Congolese Revenue Department of at least US$2,000 in taxes. The judge also said that “Les Coulisses” sent Kiangu a US$1,500 bill for publishing his right of reply following the article’s publication.
The journalist’s trial took place in his absence as he was in Kinshasa at the time. Nevertheless, the judge noted that Kibel-Bel-Oka’s lawyers had appealed the sentence and, as such, a new trial date would be set.
When the trial began, Kibel-Bel-Oka told JED that he had provided the court with proof of all the allegations contained in the article. However, at the same time, the journalist also expressed apprehensions about the court’s impartiality due to the family ties between some members of the court and the plaintiff.
