Reporters Without Borders (RSF) called on Thursday July 21 for the "
immediate release
" of a Congolese journalist on the eighth day of his "
arbitrary
" detention in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"
The detention of this Congolese journalist is completely arbitrary and even turns to relentlessness after the release of his American colleague
," said the head of RSF's Africa desk Arnaud Froger.
“
We demand his immediate release and call on the Congolese authorities to put an end to the repressive practices of the ANR (Congolese intelligence services) which consist of abusively detaining journalists, seizing their equipment and erasing their content to prevent them from working or under the false pretext of ensuring their safety
,” he added.
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Congolese journalist Joseph Kazadi and his American colleague Stavros Nicholas Niarchos were arrested on July 13 in Lubumbashi (south-east), then transferred to Kinshasa by ANR agents who suspect them of having had unauthorized contact with armed groups active in this mining region.
The American journalist was released and left the DRC on Tuesday after pressure exerted by the American consulate in Kinshasa.
But, his Congolese colleague is still kept in the premises of the ANR.
"Human rights are the same for all peoples of the world"
Previously, the National Press Union of Congo/Katanga requested from the head of the ANR, "
the unconditional release of the Congolese journalist Joseph Kazadi, as much as it was done for the American Nicolas Niarchos, because human rights are the same for all the peoples of the world
”, writes this organization in a press release.
"
DRC authorities should immediately release Congolese journalist Joseph Kazadi, as they did his American colleague Nicolas Niarchos
," said Angela Quintal, Africa Program Coordinator at CPJ (Committee to Protect Journalists). headquartered in New York.
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With the release of the American journalist, "
it is clearly established that Joseph Kazadi has committed no offence
", wrote about thirty Congolese human rights organizations in a press release.
Nicolas Niarchos, 33, works for The Nation and The New Yorker.
His Congolese colleague, Joseph Kazadi, 43, who works for the Congolese newspaper Le Leader, was his fixer for his reports in the mining south-east of the DRC.
