12 journalists jailed in DRC this year

2011-05-04 09:03

Kinshasa - Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo jailed 12 journalists between January and April, a rights group said on Tuesday, reporting 35 attacks on media freedom in the country in this period.

"Since the beginning of this year, Journalists in Danger (JED) has counted at least 35 cases of direct attacks against journalists or against media," the organisation said in a statement to mark World Press Freedom Day.

This amounted to an average of two or three attacks against journalists’ work every week, it added.

"Among these attacks, there are 12 cases of imprisonments, eight cases of assaults and threats against media professionals, nine cases of censorship and six cases of various pressures on media."

More than half the attacks on press freedom were committed by security forces, particularly the intelligence service, the group said.

It urged journalists "to avoid any surprises during the period of electoral tension".

The country is to hold presidential and parliamentary elections on November 28.

- SAPA