(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Justice Mwenze Kongolo, RSF has asked that Jean-Fidèle Mamba and Freddy Loseke Lisumbu not receive prison sentences. RSF recalled that “international human rights bodies consider the passing of prison sentences for violations of press laws as disproportionate to the prejudice suffered by the victim.” Robert Ménard, the […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Minister of Justice Mwenze Kongolo, RSF has
asked that Jean-Fidèle Mamba and Freddy Loseke Lisumbu not receive prison
sentences. RSF recalled that “international human rights bodies consider the
passing of prison sentences for violations of press laws as disproportionate
to the prejudice suffered by the victim.” Robert Ménard, the organisation’s
secretary-general, added that “in a 14 July 1992 document, the United
Nations Commission on Human Rights underlined that ‘as a negative sanction
for the expression of one’s opinion, detention constitutes one of the most
reprehensible means of imposing silence.’ This explains why today, no
democratic state imposes prison sentences in cases involving the press.”
According to information received by RSF, Mamba is being held at the
Penitentiary and Re-education Centre of Kinshasa (Centre pénitentiaire et de
rééducation de Kinshasa, CPRK) since 20 May 1999, for having penned two
articles in “La Manchette”, titled: “Kabila at bay” and “Kabila angry with
Kakudji.” In addition, Loseke Lisumbu, editor-in-chief of the daily “La
Libre Afrique”, was arrested on 27 May. He is accused of “slander” for
having published an article titled: “General discontent at the National
Police” in the 25 May edition of his newspaper. This article stated that the
National Police inspector-general had placed his sons in important
leadership positions, rather than individuals considered “better qualified.”
