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13
September 1999
Monsieur
Le Président Laurent Désire Kabila
Président
de la République
Présidence
de la République
Kinshasa
- Ngaliema
République
Démocratique du Congo
Monsieur
Gaëtan Kakudji
Ministre
de l'Intérieur
Dear
President Kabila and Minister Kakudji,
I
am writing to express my great disappointment and concern regarding
journalist
Modeste Mutinga. M.
Mutinga intended to fly to London on
Saturday,
11 September, and to then travel on to Canada at our invitation.
He
was prevented from boarding his flight on that day, however, and the
next
day
his passport and travel documents were seized by National Information
Agency
officials at the N'digili airport.
This
is just the latest incident where officials of the RDC government have
prevented
M. Mutinga from pursuing his career as a journalist. This
particular
case affects CJFE greatly. M.
Mutinga is expected in Canada to
speak
at several engagements as part of a Canadian International Development
Agency
(CIDA) project, supported directly by the Government of Canada.
We
have already publicized his engagements and made several important
meetings
with Canadians journalists and government officials.
I
urge you to return M. Mutinga's travel documents and allow him to
fulfill
his
travel plans.
Sincerely,
Lisa
Roberts
Program
Manager
Lisa
Roberts
Program
Manager
Canadian
Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE)
489
College St., Suite 403
Toronto,
ON M6G 1A5
T
416-515-9622/F 416-515-7879
roberts@cjfe.org |
