DRC / One year after Serge Maheshe’s murder, the truth has yet to emerge
KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo, June 12, 2008/African Press Organization (APO)/ — One year ago, on 13 June 2007, Serge Maheshe, a journalist for Radio Okapi, was brutally murdered in Bukavu (Democratic Republic of Congo). This anniversary was marked by religious services, cultural events and a march in memory of the murdered journalist in the capital of the Sud-Kivu province (Bukavu) and in Kinshasa. On this occasion Fondation Hirondelle, which jointly manages Radio Okapi with the UN mission in Congo, stresses that the whole truth hasn’t emerged yet and is calling again for a thorough and broader investigation.
The lawyer for two of those sentenced to death filed a petition with the Military High Court to annul the verdict reached by the Bukavu Military Court in the appeal trial of Serge Maheshe’s alleged killers. The legal action is thus not over yet.
Fondation Hirondelle, wishing to get right to the bottom of this case, is reiterating its call for more detailed and broader investigations, either as part of the current procedure or of an extra judicial course of action.
Serge Maheshe was shot dead by two men in Bukavu on the evening of 13 June 2007. He was 31 and married with two children. A law graduate and highly-talented professional, he had been working for Radio Okapi since
2003 and was chief subeditor for the Sud-Kivu province.
In its first ruling the Bukavu Military Tribunal sentenced two civilians to death for his killing. To everyone’s surprise two eye witnesses to the murder, who were also close friends of the murdered journalist, were sentenced to death too. They always claimed to be innocent. On 21 May of this year, the Bukavu Military Tribunal appeal court ruled that there was no evidence linking these two friends to Serge Maheshe’s murder and acquitted them. However, it upheld the other two capital punishments and also sentenced to death a third civilian who had not been mentioned previously.
The procedure was marred by a number of irregularities, acknowledged by the court itself in its first ruling.
Many bodies and personalities such as the UN Secretary General, the European Union, human rights and media freedom organisations have called on the Congolese authorities to try their utmost to identify the killers.
Legal experts have uncovered serious irregularities which violated the basic rights of the accused. Lawyers and observers attending the trial received anonymous death threats on a number of occasions.
Since 1995 Fondation Hirondelle has been setting up independent media in zones of tension, conflicts, wars, or in situations and places where such media do not exist. By dispelling rumours and mitigating the effects of propaganda it is contributing to peace and to the emergence of civil society.
SOURCE : Fondation Hirondelle