05 April 2010
Patient Chibeya
Shooting
A Congolese journalist was shot dead by men in military fatigues, in front of his home in the northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo town of Beni.
Well-known cameraman Patient Chibeya, 35, who worked for Radio Television Nationale Congolaise (RTVN), had just got off a motorcycle taxi in front of his home when he was approached by as many as seven armed men in military fatigues, at around 10:00 pm. An AFP report said Chibeya was hit by six bullets.
Muhinda Wema Kennedy, a Congolese journalist who knew Chibeya very well, told the International Press Institute: “It must have been pre-meditated. His wife tried to intervene, but they said they had come to get him.” Kennedy said it was possible Chibeya, who often filmed official events, possessed footage that might have been “damaging” to someone.
"This was not a hold-up, it was a carefully prepared operation," Beni mayor Mufunza Bayengo told Reporters Without Borders. "We firmly condemn this unfortunate event."
