(JED/IFEX) – Jean-Marie Kanku, publisher of the Kinshasa-based newspaper “L’Alerte”, was abducted in the early afternoon of 28 October 2005 on Lumumba Boulevard in Kinshasa/N’Djili by three armed men in plain clothes who took him to a still unknown destination. Editorial staff at “L’Alerte” told JED that Kanku was abducted by National Intelligence Agency (ANR) […]
(JED/IFEX) – Jean-Marie Kanku, publisher of the Kinshasa-based newspaper “L’Alerte”, was abducted in the early afternoon of 28 October 2005 on Lumumba Boulevard in Kinshasa/N’Djili by three armed men in plain clothes who took him to a still unknown destination.
Editorial staff at “L’Alerte” told JED that Kanku was abducted by National Intelligence Agency (ANR) agents. This version of events was supported by the journalist’s wife, who added that her husband was reportedly detained at ANR headquarters in Kinshasa/Gombe. However, as of the evening of 30 October, security officers at ANR headquarters and another ANR office denied the journalist’s presence on their premises.
The motive for this abduction remains unknown. However, editorial staff at “L’Alerte” believe it is connected to a series of articles in the newspaper in which a member of parliament, Thierry Bongo, sharply attacked the ANR’s general administrator, Lando Lurhakumbirwa, calling him an “enemy of the Congo” and accusing him of misappropriating public funds allocated to his agency. A published interview with Bongo suggested that Lando belonged in prison for “high treason, misappropriation of funds and well-known incompetence.”
JED is very concerned by this disappearance and calls on any person or security service that is holding the journalist to immediately reveal where and why he has been detained.
