Journalists assaulted at lawyer-organised briefing

Unidentified men in plainclothes have assaulted a group of journalists in the Republic of Congo, as they attended a press conference organised by the lawyers of a jailed opposition figure. A TimesLIVE report notes that Laudes Martial Mbon, who works for the French radio station RFI, said the attack occurred outside the offices of the newspaper La Semaine Africaine in Brazzaville, where lawyers for jailed opposition politician Andre Okombi Salissa planned to brief the media. Along with four other opposition figures, Okombi Salissa had challenged President Denis Sassou Nguesso during polls last year. He has been in jail since January on charges of ‘undermining internal security’. Legalbrief reports that press watchdog Journalists in Danger, the African partner of Reporters without Borders, confirmed that the victims had been 'violently beaten up' and detained. It called for their immediate release.