Eight months after his arrest on 14 February by National Intelligence Agency (Agence nationale des renseignements, ANR) officers, journalist Bamporiki Chamira was still being detained at a prison in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a national media watchdog reported on Wednesday.
Journaliste en danger (JED) said that Chamira, of the Kinshasa-based daily La Tempete des Tropiques, was still held at Kinshasa’s Penitentiary and Re-education Centre (Centre penitentiaire et de reeducation de Kinshasa, formerly the Makala Central Prison). He is accused of “direct or indirect participation in a plot aimed at eliminating President Joseph Kabila” and of helping his daughter’s husband, Maj Doris Mbenge, to escape from an ANR prison.
JED reported that four other members of Chamira’s family were also being held for trial.
JED said that Chamira’s detention was marked by several irregularities, including the State Security Court’s violation of Article 80 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which sets a limit of eight days, from the moment a case goes into deliberation, to deliver a verdict; and the lack of response to a 5 May appeal by media representatives and JED for a presidential pardon.
“In view of this, JED renews its request for a pardon and asks President Joseph Kabila, in his role as Supreme Magistrate, to rectify the irregularities surrounding this case and to order the unconditional release of Chamira and his co-accused.” – Irin