New York, August 9, 2004—Seven employees of an evangelical radio station that was shuttered last week were freed on Saturday, August 7, without charge. The station, Radio Hosanna, in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo city of Lubumbashi, remains closed. The station has been shut down since August 4, when national intelligence agents and police…
New York, August 6, 2004—National intelligence agents stormed an evangelical radio station in the southern city of Lubumbashi, shutting it down and arresting seven employees this week after the station broadcast a sermon critical of the government. The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply troubled by the closing of Radio Hosanna, which broadcasts religious and…
Kinshasa, June 14, 2004—Concluding a two-week mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) today called on the transitional government not to use national security as a justification for restricting the work of the press. Journalists working in the DRC face frequent harassment, legal action, and even imprisonment, according to…
Kinshasa, June 10, 2004—Three community radio stations that had been threatened by rebel forces in the eastern town of Bukavu resumed broadcasting yesterday, after government forces retook the town, according to journalists at the stations. One station reported further threats. Radio Maria, Radio Sauti ya Rehema (Voice of Mercy), and Radio Maendeleo have been able…
Kinshasa, June 7, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has learned that Albert Kassa Khamy Mouya, former publication director of the weekly newspaper Le Lauréat, and Rakys Bokela, editor of newspaper Le Collecteur, have been imprisoned in Kinshasa, the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo, since May 27 and May 21, respectively, on criminal defamation…
Kinshasa, June 3, 2004—Rebel forces that took control of the town of Bukavu, in eastern DRC, on Wednesday have threatened and attacked the town’s three main community radio stations, forcing them off the air, according to the local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED) and other local sources. Joseph Nkinzo, director of the radio…
New York, May 27, 2004 – Lucien-Claude Ngongo, deputy editor of the weekly newspaper Fair Play, has been detained in the DRC capital Kinshasa for a week without charge, according to local press freedom group Journaliste en Danger (JED). Local journalists say Ngongo has been questioned about an article he wrote denouncing corrupt practices by…
New York, March 29, 2004—Jean-Denis Lompoto, editor of the satirical biweekly Pili-Pili, was released March 27 from a Kinshasa prison on bail of US$100. Lompoto, who had been held just over a week, was detained on March 19 on charges of defaming Mining Minister Eugène Diomi Ndongala, according to local press organization Journaliste en danger…