Two journalists, an American and a Congolese, have been arrested on Wednesday 13 July in Lubumbashi by the intelligence services. After meetings with members and relatives of a local armed militia, they were transferred to Kinshasa where they are still being held at the premises of the National Intelligence Agency (ANR).
On his accreditation signed on 16 June 2022 by the Congolese minister of communication and media, journalist Nicolas Niarchos was authorized to shoot a series of reports on nature conservation, the economy and culture.
He was arrested on Wednesday along with his fixer, a Congolese journalist named Joseph Kazadi Kamuanga. According to witnesses, the arrest took place in a restaurant on the outskirts of Lubumbashi while Nicolas Niarchos was conducting interviews with men whom some sources identify as Bakata Katanga militiamen. According to local civil society, the interviews were part of a series of reports with various actors involved in mining governance in that part of the country.
The 33-year-old American, who writes for The Nation and The New Yorker, has previously reported from the field in the DRC. Joseph Kazadi Kamuanga works in the local print media and is known for his reporting on the mining sector.
According to ANR sources, hearings were still underway on Monday morning on the links with the nature of the activities of these two journalists. For the time being, the American embassy has not yet made a statement on this case.