DRC: Radio host jailed for three days over commentary critical of magistrates

August 15, 2007
Posted August 24, 2007

Paul Kabanga Malumba, Radio Communautaire du Katanga
IMPRISONED

Malumba, the host of a popular morning civic education program on private station Radio Communautaire du Katanga in the mining city of Likasi in southern Katanga province, was summarily thrown into jail after a magistrate lured him into the prosecutor’s office, he told CPJ.

The arrest was linked to a broadcast of Malumba the previous day alleging that vehicles belonging to Likasi’s magistrates lacked licensing plates and insurance documents as required by law, he said.

Malumba was released without charge three days later after the intervention of the Congolese press union, according to news reports.