Journaliste En Danger (Kinshasa)
4 June 2001
press release
Congo Kinshasa — Andre Kisangani, a journalist with the daily "La Reference Plus", has been summoned to appear on 5 June 2001 before the Court of Kinshasa/Pont Kasa-Vubu by the former education minister, Yerodia Abdoulaye Ndombasi. In a summons dated 23 May, the former minister accuses Kisangani and the newspaper "La Reference Plus" of defamation and asks the court to sentence the journalist to "the strongest penalty provided for by the law" and to impose a fine of US$ 32,000 on his newspaper for damages.
On 3 May, "La Reference Plus" published an article by Kisangani entitled "By publishing the day of the delivery and resumption of a controversial decree, Yerodia smeared and dishonoured at the Education Ministry". In this article, the journalist accused the minister of having removed a team of advisors from his outgoing cabinet, among which there were fictitious advisors, with "his eye on the severance payments". In the same article, the journalist wrote that Minister Yerodia "was preparing to deliver 185 public schools to a religious organisation whose only members are tribal brothers."
This is the second summons from the former education minister since he was dismissed from the government. The first case pits the minister against the bi-weekly "Numerica".
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Journaliste en danger (JED) Organisation non gouvernementale de defense et de promotion de la liberte de la presse B.P. 633 Kinshasa 1 Mobile : (243) 99 29 323/ 99 29 345 Republique democratique du Congo E- mail: jedkin@ic.cd Internet: www.congonline.com/Jed/
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