Newspaper director detained for three days over article criticizing a university

APRIL 18, 2006
Posted: April 25, 2006

Arthur Tshimanga Kaputu, Lubilanji Expansion
IMPRISONED

Kaputu, director of the small private newspaper Lubilanji Expansion was detained for three days without charge by the public prosecutor in the capital, Kinshasa. According to the Kinshasa-based press freedom organization, Journaliste en Danger (JED), which sent a representative to meet with the journalist in prison, Kaputu was arrested following a complaint from the Protestant University of Congo.

The university lodged a complaint with police after Lubilanji Expansion published an article in March accusing administrators of corruption, JED reported. Kaputu appeared before a judge on April 20, who accused him of printing “defamatory statements” about the university. It was unclear whether Kaputu was formally charged.