Staff of ‘L’Avenir’ newspaper reportedly harassed

Four staff members of the pro-government daily ‘L’Avenir’ in Kinshasa were on Tuesday summoned to the criminal investigation department of the public prosecutor’s office (PJP), the media watchdog Journaliste En Danger (JED) reported on Thursday. According to JED, the only information in the summons received by ‘l’Avenir’ employees was that they were to present themselves “immediately” to the PJP’s office to be “heard on a subject of which they will be informed.” However, one of the people who delivered the summons reportedly said that the employees were summoned “for highly political reasons,” JED stated. Three weeks ago, JED noted, Diana Gikupa, publication director of ‘L’Avenir’, was released after being imprisoned for seven days. Gikupa’s arrest and detention “in inhumane conditions” was linked to ‘L’Avenir’s’ publication of an article that was critical of the head of state’s cabinet director, according to JED.