May 29, 2023

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DRC: An American Journalist Arrested by Intelligence

#In other countries A US journalist has been arrested in the Democratic Republic of Congo by intelligence for allegedly reaching out to armed groups in the country’s southeast, a senior government official told AFP on Sunday.

American journalist Stavros Nicholas Niarchos and a Congolese journalist were arrested in the southeastern city of Lubumbashi on Wednesday and taken to the capital Kinshasa, according to civil society groups cited by local media.

A senior government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed the American’s arrest to AFP, saying the Congolese intelligence agency ANR had detained him in Kinshasa.

The official said the 33-year-old journalist, who writes for US magazines The Nation and The New Yorker, had contacted local militants.

«ANR brought journalist Nicolas Nyarkos back to Kinshasa and questioned him about his close links with armed groups, particularly the Pakada Katanga.»he said.

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«He made movements that were not reported to the authorities until now»And the official reasoned, assuming that the Govt «After the killing of two UN experts in 2017, vigilance is warranted.

The UN hired American experts Michael Sharp and Swedish-Chilean Zaida Catalan to investigate the violence in the Kasai region of central DRC, where they were abducted and killed.

«Congolese authorities do not want an American journalist»A government official said the US embassy had met him and he could be released on Tuesday.

Niarchos traveled to the DRC to report on nature conservation, economics and culture for The Nation magazine, according to the journalist’s official authorization seen by AFP.

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Neither Nation nor the US Embassy in Kinshasa could immediately respond.