The publication director of the Kinshasa-based weekly "AfricaNews" has been arrested and jailed on the orders of the Prosecutor's Office of the Kinshasa/Gombe High Court.
Three judicial police officers arrested Michel Mukebayi Nkosso at his home early in the morning on November 24. He was immediately transferred to a jail cell at the prosecutor's office, according to the Kinshasa-based press freedom organisation Journaliste en Danger (Journalists in Danger � JED ).
Kin-Kiey Mulumba, publisher of "Le Soft International" newspaper, filed a complaint against Mukebayi for "damaging allegations". Mulumba is also an influential member of and former spokesperson for the former rebel movement RCD/Goma.
A prosecutor's office magistrate questioned Mukebayi under oath about an article that appeared in his paper's November 17 issue. In the unsigned article, Mulumba was accused of blackmail and trading favours with several high-level government officials. During his interrogation, Mukebayi refused to repudiate his writings.
Until two months ago, Mukebayi served as editor-in-chief of "Le Soft International". He subsequently resigned and demanded his back pay, which he has not received.
Violent crime has risen dramatically over recent months in Kinshasa, with ever more frequent armed attacks by soldiers or what witnesses have called "men in uniform" .
On November 8, a court freed journalist Jean-Marie Kanku on bail after 12 days of detention. Kanku, publisher of the private newspaper L'Alerte, was arrested on October 28 by the national intelligence agency, known as the ANR. There was no official acknowledgment or explanation for Kanku's arrest, and he had not been publicly charged. Kanku was arrested after L'Alerte printed an interview with Member of Parliament Thierry Bongo, who criticised ANR director Lando Lurhakumbirwa.
Another journalist, Patrice Booto, who was detained in November first week without charge, remains behind bars. On November 11, Booto, publisher of the Kinshasa-based newspaper "Le Journal" and its supplement "Pool Malebo", was charged with spreading "false rumours" by the public prosecutor's office of the State Security Court (CSE) in Kinshasa/Lingwala, where his case was referred.
Franck Kangundu, a veteran political affairs journalist with La Référence Plus, was shot dead shortly after midnight November 3 by unidentified assassins who accosted him at his home in the capital, Kinshasa. The attackers also killed Kangundu's wife, Hélène Mpaka.
See earlier report: Policemen had murdered Kinshasa editor and wife
