(JED/IFEX) – On 30 March 2004, Arnaud Zajtman, the BBC’s Kinshasa correspondent, was summoned to appear before the State Prosecutor’s Office in Kinshasa/Gombe. The journalist went to the office, where a judge questioned him for close to 20 minutes about the “events of 8 March at the Palace of the People”, which the BBC had […]
(JED/IFEX) – On 30 March 2004, Arnaud Zajtman, the BBC’s Kinshasa correspondent, was summoned to appear before the State Prosecutor’s Office in Kinshasa/Gombe. The journalist went to the office, where a judge questioned him for close to 20 minutes about the “events of 8 March at the Palace of the People”, which the BBC had reported on in its news bulletins.
The judge asked Zajtman if he was at the Palace of the People on the day the incidents took place. The journalist said that he was not present at the palace that day, and was subsequently ordered to reveal his sources for the BBC report. Zajtman refused, citing his professional code of ethics. The judge insisted, saying, “The law in the [Democratic Republic of Congo] is unaware of your professional code of ethics.” He also warned the journalist that he was “obligated to disclose the source of the information reported on his radio station.” Zajtman again refused to reveal his sources, after which the judge promised to summon him again at a future date.
