Journalists in prison as of December 1, 2012

Democratic Republic of Congo: 3

Pierre Sosthène Kambidi, Christian Radio Télévision Chrétienne
Imprisoned: August 28, 2012

Agents of the Congolese national intelligence agency arrested Kambidi, editor-in-chief of Christian Radio Télévision Chrétienne, or RTC, in the central town of Kananga, according to local press freedom group Journaliste En Danger. Kambidi was being held without charge in late year, according to news reports.

Kambidi and another RTC journalist had received death threats in connection with a news program that aired August 16, RTC Director Charles Boniface Bayakwabo told Journaliste En Danger. During the program, a local opposition politician suggested that President Joseph Kabila's regime was nearing an end. The politician was reacting to the station's rebroadcast of an interview conducted by UN-backed Radio Okapi with John Tshibangu, an army officer turned rebel, according to news reports. In the interview, Tshibangu announced the creation of an armed rebel movement.

Kambidi was transferred to the capital, Kinshasa, on August 30, Bayakwabo said.

Dadou Ekiom, Télé 50
Guy Ngiaba, Kimpangi
Imprisoned: November 27, 2012

The public prosecutor in the city of Bandundu, northeast of the capital Kinshasa, placed Ekiom and Ngiaba under arrest on criminal defamation charges based on a complaint filed by Boniface Ntwa, speaker of the provincial assembly, according to the the local press freedom group Observatoire de la Liberte de la Presse En Afrique .

The charges were based on November 2 commentary that Ekiom and Ngiaba aired as presenters and producers of the talk show "Référendum" on the local broadcaster Nzondo Télévision, the station's news director, Natanaël Kadima, told CPJ. The journalists had commented on alleged attempts by some members of the provincial assembly to oust the speaker, Kadima said.

Ekiom is local correspondent for the Kinshasa-based private broadcasters Télé 50, and Ngiaba works for the weekly Kimpangi, also based in the capital, according to OLPA.

Both journalists were held in pre-trial detention at Bandudu's central prison known as Cinquantennaire.

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