Calling on Congolese authorities to do everything possible to find and punish those responsible for the murder of the 31-year-old, Mr. Matsuura said, “it is essential that media professionals, the true pillars of democracy, are protected and that crimes against them do not go unpunished.”
Radio Okapi is a partnership between MONUC and the Hirondelle Foundation, a Swiss non-governmental organization (NGO).
According to UNESCO – tasked with defending press freedom worldwide – Mr. Maheshe is the third Congolese journalist to be murdered since November 2005. Bapuwa Mwamba, from daily newspaper Le Phare, was killed at his home by three armed men in July 2006. Franck Kangundu, a journalist for La Référence Plus, was killed with his wife in November 2005.
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