A senior military officer of the Congolese armed forces arrested Serge Sindani, a defense reporter and director of the privately owned website Kis24.info, for posting a photo of combat aircraft on his X account.
The photo, taken from a distance, showed military planes at Bangoka International Airport in Kisangani, a city in northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo, with the caption “RDC-Instant Kisangani — the city is calm and under control with our Sukhoi fighter jets. Happy Sunday,” according to a statement by the outlet and Kis24.info journalist Steves Paluku Mbusa, who spoke with CPJ.
Sindani was detained in a military intelligence cell in Kisangani, a city in the north-central Tshopo province, and was questioned by an officer named Colonel Mwambi, who accused him of having bad intentions for showing military planes in the context of the current war in the region.
“Sindani is one of ours,” Mwambi told CPJ by phone before Sindani was released. “He easily covers military activities in the Tshopo province. We are in an operational war province; he took the liberty of filming our war planes without any authorization from the military hierarchy. We do not know his intentions. Was it to inform our enemies? We are investigating his case.”
Sindani was released without charge on June 27, 2025, according to a report by his outlet.