DRC: L'Interprète journalists jailed; health concerns

27 June 2008

The Writers in Prison Committee (WiPC) of International PEN protests the months-long pre-trial detention of L'interprète editor Nsimba Embete Ponte and his assistant Davin Ntondo Nzovuangu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The two men were finally officially charged on 6 June, after being held incommunicado for 90 and 68 days respectively. The WiPC is concerned that the journalists continue to be detained and that their trial is being delayed. It believes that they are being detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression, as guaranteed by the national constitution and international human rights law. The WiPC is also concerned by reports that Ponte is poor health. It calls on the Congolese authorities to ensure Ponte and Ntondo receive access to bail provision and a prompt and fair trial, and to proper medical treatment whilst still in detention.

On 6 June 2008, Ponte and Ntondo were reportedly transferred from the National Intelligence Agency (ANR) in Kinshasa, where they had been held since March, to the court of Matete, also in Kinshasa. Both men were charged with "publishing false news, threatening state security and insulting the president" on the basis of a 30 November 2006 article critical of President Kabila's leadership and a series of February 2008 articles on the President's health. The journalists had been held incommunicado for 90 and 68 days respectively, during which time they were denied visits by lawyers, doctors or their families.

On 7 June Ponte and Ntondo were transferred to a prison in Kinshasa (Centre pénitentiaire et de rééducation de Kinshasa - CPRK, formerly known as Makala). A hearing scheduled for 13 June reportedly did not take place as the judge failed to turn up.

Ponte (57) is reportedly in poor health. He says he has suffered from headaches and fainting while in detention and appeared weak during a 7 June visit by local free press organisation Journalist en Danger (JED). On 9 June, Ponte was reportedly diagnosed with symptoms of meningitis and stomach ulcers and referred to specialized medical care. As of 25 June he was said to be held in a cell with some 20 other inmates.

At the end of June a state prosecutor reportedly declared the journalists' pre-trial detention to be illegal. Under the DRC Constitution, detainees can only be kept in a holding cell for 48 hours. However, this guarantee is systematically violated, according to a Human Rights Assessment report by the United Nations peacekeeping mission in DRC.

Background
Ponte was arrested by plain clothes policemen on 7 March and detained incommunicado at an ANR building near the prime minister's office in Kinshasa. He had reportedly been receiving threats since publishing a series of articles on President Kabila's health (mentioned above) in February. Ntondo was arrested by police at his home on 29 March. Both men were denied access to legal or medical assistance or family visits during their detention by the ANR.