A UN journalist arrested a week ago in the northwestern DRC city of Gbadolite by the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) was released without condition on Saturday, the UN's Radio Okapi announced. Franklin Moliba-Sese, who works for the radio, said he had not been physically harmed, but he was tired from his ordeal.
U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)
DRC: UN journalist freed
KINSHASA, 23 September (IRIN) - A UN journalist arrested a week ago in the northwestern DRC city of Gbadolite by the Mouvement de liberation du Congo (MLC) was released without condition on Saturday, the UN's Radio Okapi announced.
Franklin Moliba-Sese, who works for the radio, said he had not been physically harmed, but he was tired from his ordeal. The MLC authorities made no comment upon Moliba's release.
The MLC was upset over a report by Moliba on the difficult living conditions of child soldiers of the MLC. During his detention, Moliba was interrogated for having interviewed child soldiers without authorisation and for having "disclosed information of a military nature".
One of the child soldiers interviewed by Moliba complained of ill-treatment and being deprived of food.
The MLC came under fire from diplomatic sources, media freedom groups and human rights organisations demanding Moliba's release.
The UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC, MONUC, which had demanded his immediate release, expressed its appreciation for Moliba's release, as did the UN's Radio Okapi partner, the Swiss-based Fondation Hirondelle.
Hirondelle also called upon the MLC to provide the necessary conditions in which journalists could work unhindered in a bid to contribute to the return of peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The MLC, a former rebel movement backed by neighbouring Uganda, entered into an uneasy alliance with the Kinshasa government upon conclusion of the inter-Congolese dialogue in South Africa earlier this year.
[ENDS]
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