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Society
- Belgium
- DR Congo
- Justice - Human rights
Belgian journalist held in Congo
A Congolese human rights group, Voice of the Voiceless (VSV), has denounced the arrest of a Belgian independent journalist M. Collin in Bas-Congo province and demanded his immediate release or prosecution at a court of competent jurisdiction.
In a statement in Kinshasa on Wednesday, the rights group said Collin was arrested on 16 April in Seke-Banza by officers of the Immigration Department (DGM - Congolese Intelligence Service). The Belgian journalist, who arrived in Seke-Banza the day before his arrest, had informed the local authorities of his willingness to investigate the recent "massacre" of followers of Bundu dia Kongo (BDK- a political and religious movement) . The rights group said the local authorities in Seke-Banza did not have any objection. "Yet, while conducting his investigations, Collin was arrested and transferred t o Matadi, the administrative centre of Bas-Congo province, 350 km west of Kinshasa, where he has been held without valid reasons." The rights group notes that the journalist has been blamed for entering a mining area without the authorization from Congo’s mines ministry. Panapress.
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