2006

New York, July 5, 2006 — The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the expulsion of Radio France Internationale (RFI) correspondent Ghislaine Dupont from the Democratic Republic of Congo where a landmark general election is scheduled for July 30. Dupont, who had been in the capital Kinshasa with a valid visa since April trying to obtain…

New York, June 23, 2006—A journalist imprisoned in the Democratic Republic of Congo since April on defamation charges was secretly convicted and sentenced to four months in jail over a week ago, a press freedom group reported today. The Kinshasa-based organization, Journaliste en Danger (JED), told the Committee to Protect Journalists that one of its…

Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists is increasingly alarmed by repeated attacks against the media in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Such attacks are all the more troubling in the current context of campaigning for presidential and parliamentary elections due July 30. While one journalist was released on bail Wednesday, another has been jailed for more than six months in connection with his work. At least two radio stations remain off the air after attacks by security forces, while CPJ sources report at least one violent attack on a journalist in recent weeks. The government has also blocked the accreditation of a veteran correspondent for Radio France Internationale (RFI).

New York, June 14, 2006—A court in the Democratic Republic of Congo today freed radio journalist Pierre-Sosthène Kambidi on bail pending appeal of a defamation conviction, according to his lawyer and the Kinshasa-based press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED). Kambidi was arrested June 8 in the town of Tshikapa, and sentenced to three months…

New York, June 12, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a three-month prison sentence given to a radio journalist in the Democratic Republic of Congo for defaming a local police chief. Pierre-Sosthène Kambidi, of private radio station Concorde FM in the central town of Tshikapa, was sentenced on June 10, his lawyer said. Kambidi was…

New York, June 9, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the arrest of a radio journalist in the Democratic Republic of Congo who criticized the police on air. Pierre-Sosthène Kambidi, who works for the local private radio station Concorde FM, and the Kinshasa-based press freedom organization Journaliste en Danger (JED), was arrested…

New York, May 31, 2006—Congolese authorities are refusing to accredit Radio France Internationale’s Ghislaine Dupont to cover July elections, despite the fact that she obtained a visa and has been in the country for five weeks, according to RFI Africa Director Henri Perilhou. Information Minister Henri Mova Sakanyi has pressured RFI to withdraw Dupont, who…

New York, May 30, 2006—A Kinshasa court today sentenced journalist Patrice Booto to six months in prison and a $500 fine for “offending the head of state,” and “insulting the government,” according to local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED). The court ruled that Booto, who has already spent more than six months in…

New York, May 26, 2006—The Committee to Protect Journalists is issuing an urgent call for the acquittal of jailed journalist Patrice Booto, who awaits a verdict, expected Monday, on charges of publishing false information, offending the head of state, and “insulting the government.” The state prosecutor has asked a Kinshasa judge for a three-year jail…