Journalist Fiston Wilondja Mazambi was found dead in the early hours of Tuesday 05 August in the town of Bukavu, in the province of South Kivu. Traces of torture were visible on the stunned body lying in a street in the town of Bukavu.

The organisation Journaliste En Danger (JED) is calling on the leaders of the M23-AFC rebellion to clarify the circumstances surrounding the death of journalist Wilondja Mazambi Fiston, who was found dead in the early hours of Tuesday 05 August in Bukavu, the provincial capital of South Kivu.

Wilondja Mazambi Fiston, who was in his thirties, worked for the media monitoring centre (Centrale de Monitoring des Médias), an ethical and deontological monitoring program of the National Union of the Press of Congo (UNPC).

In its press release, JED states that the journalist succumbed to his injuries on arrival in the emergency room of Bukavu General Hospital, after having been subjected to “serious torture”.

According to its sources, Journaliste En Danger reports that “Wilondja Mazambi had been abducted the previous day by an ‘armed commando'” at around 6 p.m. in the vicinity of Place Mulamba chez Mangaza, in the Nguba district.

“A great writer has died, a victim of his commitment to the truth. The DRC has lost a man of his word, democracy has lost a defender, and the press mourns one of its own” said a journalist.

While expressing its dismay, JED is “urgently” calling on the authorities of the AFC/M23, the rebellion that controls Bukavu, to clarify the circumstances surrounding the death of journalist Wilondja Mazambi, which, according to the organization, does not appear to be an ordinary case of insecurity.

Written by Munguakonkwa Shabani