Congo police arrest 2 soldiers in shooting death of national radio journalist in E. Congo

Congo police arrest 2 soldiers in reporter’s death

KINSHASA, Congo — A policeman says two Congolese soldiers have been arrested for killing a radio journalist in volatile eastern Congo.

Beni police chief Eric Zongoneka says police arrested the two after national radio journalist Patient Chebeya Bakome was killed Monday night. Bakome’s brother says the soldiers shot Bakome in front of his wife and took his phone and money.

The Committee to Protect Journalists in 2009 rated Congo as one of the world’s worst places for press freedom, citing journalist killings, criminal libel cases, imprisonment and intimidation.

Eastern Congo has been wracked by violence since Rwanda’s 1994 genocide spilled war across the border. Human rights groups have accused soldiers stationed there of atrocities.