Democratic Republic of Congo
Higher-ed minister orders guards to beat journalisPosted Nov 1 2007
On October 22, Higher Education Minster Sylvain Ngabu ordered policemen to beat news director Heustache Namunanika and cameraman Didier Lofumbwa, of private broadcaster Horizon 33, after the station aired a program discussing Ngabu's decision to suspend a local university chancellor.
Ngabu invited Namunanika and Lofumbwa to his office in Kinshasa and scolded them for interviewing the suspended chancellor. When they defended their position as journalists to present both sides of the story, Ngabu ordered his bodyguards to beat them and throw them off the premises.
Lofumbwa told the Committee to Protect Journalists he was preparing his camera when five armed officers assulted him from behind and beat him with rifle butts while dragging him out of the office. Namunika, who escaped the beating, said his clothes were torn and he has gotten treatment for bruises and chest pains.
Defense lawyer Jean-Pierre Ngunda told CPJ a complain has been filed against Ngabu and the guards for unlawful confinement, assault and battery. Faustin Fwafa, chief of staff to Information Minister Toussaint Tshilombo Send, said a government cabinet meeting will discuss the issue October 26.