Press Freedom

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today welcomed the acquittal of two friends of Radio Okapi journalist Serge Maheshe who were accused of taking part in his murder but condemned irregularities in the appeal trial that failed to clear up who was responsible for the killing.

The Military Court of Bukavu on Wednesday cleared two of Maheshe's friends who were with him when he was killed of any involvement in the murder but sentenced to death the two convicted gunmen along with a third man said to be their accomplice.

"We welcome the release of Maheshe's friends but this decision has been overshadowed by our fears that we still do not know the truth about Serge's murder," said Gabriel Baglo, Director of the IFJ Africa Office. "This decision has not brought the truth to light and we are calling on the Congolese government to reopen the case and transfer it to a civil and independent court and conduct a serious investigation to find out who is responsible for this killing."

Some observers and lawyers sent to follow the trial received death threats when they reported on problems and irregularities in the trial. The IFJ called on the Congolese authorities and the Military Court of Bukavu to investigate the threats against the observers and the defence lawyers.

The appeal court confirmed the death sentence pronounced in the first instance against alleged gunmen Freddy Bisimwa and Mugisho Mastakila. They were convicted of "killing" in order to "facilitate a robbery" but the appeals court did not affirm the initial charge of "murder" against the two men. A third defendant, Bisimwa Sikitu Patient, who was not previously charged was convicted of criminal conspiracy and also sentenced to death.

In the appeal trial, the Public Prosecutor called for the acquittal of the journalist's two friends for lack of evidence. Bisimwa and Mastakila recanted their charges that Maheshe's friends, Serge Muhima and Alain Mulimbi Shamavu, were the instigators of the murder. Bisimwa and Mastakila said they made these allegations at the request of two military judges.

Representatives of local human rights organizations and the international group Protection Internationale who observed the trial denounced irregularities, including the improper handling of the clothes worn by the journalist when he was killed, the refusal to call witnesses from a military camp near the crime scene and the refusal of the Court to allow an autopsy and ballistics expertise to be used as evidence in the trial.

Maheshe, a journalist and Bukavu's head of Radio Okapi, which is backed by the MONUC (United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo), was shot dead on June 13, 2007. At the end of a trial held before the Military Tribunal of Bukavu from June 14 to 28 August 2007, Muhima and Shamavu, who were the only eyewitnesses to his murder, were sentenced to death along with Bisimwa and Mastakila.

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The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries