Congolese journalist Rosie Pioth, 43, had no intention of leaving her country. However, at the end of July, after receiving death threats, she was forced to pack her bags.

Pioth is a correspondent for France 24 and director of the news website Fact-Check Congo. Her crime was publishing an article about the anniversary of one of the most violent events in the history of the Republic of the Congo: the 1982 bombing of the Maya-Maya International Airport in the capital, Brazzaville. In her report, Pioth stated that, 43 years later, the victims’ families were still demanding justice and compensation. She also opined that the investigation into what happened should continue.

“The investigation revealed contradictions in the presidential pardons granted to the defendants in the 1986 trial. It also highlighted the fact that one of the convicted men said he learned of his sentence through the press, without anyone questioning him when he returned to Congo a year later, and that the promised compensation to the victims’ families was never paid out,” Pioth explains to EL PAÍS in a WhatsApp message. “All of this demonstrates that the judicial, political and human treatment of the attack was incomplete. That’s probably why I received threats,” she notes.

I knew I was taking a risk doing this kind of an investigation, but I never imagined I’d have to get out so suddenly and leave my family behind

Rosie Pioth, Congolese journalist

Pioth lived in hiding for days, hoping that the threatening phone calls and messages would stop, but they didn’t. And so she had no choice but to leave. “I knew I was taking a risk doing this kind of investigation, but I never imagined having to get out [of the country] so suddenly and leave my family behind,” she sighs. “My whole life has been turned upside down: my home, school, my income, my family’s stability…”

“Professionally, I had to stop going to report in person and prioritize working remotely. [I also had to] strengthen my digital and physical security, and put some projects on hold. Today, I’m safe. But I’m facing significant material and administrative hardship,” she adds.

Self-censorship for fear of reprisals

Pioth’s ordeal has once again highlighted concerns about the state of press freedom in the Republic of Congo, where journalists are increasingly subjected to intimidation — although not to the same extent as in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Reporters Without Borders (RSF) ranks the Republic of Congo 71st out of 180 countries in its annual ranking.

“Congo-Brazzaville is no haven for press freedom. Although there are a significant number of media outlets, the authorities continue to influence content, [while] security conditions are poor. Rosie Pioth’s case is a prime example,” Sadibou Marong explains, in a Whatsapp message to this newspaper. He’s the director of RSF’s Sub-Saharan Africa bureau.

“She and her family have been living in alarming conditions since July. But the message sent by the Congolese media regulator [the institution that’s] responsible, among other things, for protecting journalists to the rest of the profession is dramatic: it encourages self-censorship, instead of implementing concrete measures to guarantee the safety of investigative journalists,” he affirms.

Although there are a significant number of media outlets, the authorities continue to influence content. Security conditions are not good

RSF

The Republic of Congo has long been a country of great concern to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). In this country — which has been ruled by the authoritarian regime of Sassou Nguesso, president from 1979 to 1992 and again from 1997 to the present — journalists have suffered arrests and persecution for doing their work.

“Journalist Ghys Fortuné Dombé Bemba was imprisoned for nearly 18 months in 2017 and 2018. Raymond Malonga, a magazine editor, has been imprisoned twice since 2013. And the recent death threats received by journalist Rosie Pioth have raised further fears for the safety of the press in the country,” says Angela Quintal, CPJ’s Africa director, in a WhatsApp message. “Unfortunately, these are common dangers for journalists across Africa, but the Republic of Congo is particularly repressive; critical reporting faces many restrictions,” she explains.

Fact-Check Congo has suspended publication of the remainder of Pioth’s report, which was set to be released in three installments, pending full guarantees for her and her family’s safety. When she received death threats, Pioth filed a complaint through a human rights organization. However, she says that, to date, she has received no clear response from the authorities.

The incident, in July 2025, was not the first time she had faced pressure or intimidation for her work, but never before had she suffered such serious threats. “Press freedom in the Republic of Congo is conditional. Some topics are tolerated, and others, much less so,” Pioth points out. “Access to official sources is limited, protection for journalists is insufficient and threats often go unpunished,” she adds.

The Congolese government did not like my reports, which put them in a compromising position. And, since they couldn’t stop me or shut me up, they ordered my physical elimination

Christian Perrin, journalist

Detention and torture

Ghys Fortuné Dombé Bemba, director of Talassa, an independent newspaper, has lived in exile in France since 2018, after spending 28 months in pre-trial detention in his country. Bemba was arrested in January of 2017, accused of “being an accomplice in maneuvers to undermine state security.” This occurred because of an article he published about high-ranking army officers, which included comments from former rebel leader Pastor Ntumi, who is wanted by the Congolese government for terrorism.

“It wasn’t a legal arrest, but a kidnapping, because they didn’t present me with any arrest warrant,” he explains via WhatsApp. “I was about to board my flight to Paris when five armed men in civilian clothes grabbed me and dragged me into a vehicle. They took me to the jail for political prisoners, where I was tortured for two days. And then, they took me to the gendarmerie headquarters, where I was subjected to continuous interrogations for a week before being brought before the prosecutor,” he recalls.

Bemba was accused of being a “murderer” and a “terrorist” who had been caught red-handed in an operation against state security. He was held in pre-trial detention.

“I lived through hell: they kept me in complete isolation, didn’t allow any family members to visit me and locked me in a small, dark cell,” Bemba recalls. He has recounted his terrible experience in a 2019 book titled De l’enfer à la liberté (“From hell to freedom”).

“I defecated right there, in a small bucket that served as a toilet. I became seriously ill. The only time I saw several hours of daylight was when I was rushed to a clinic in the city because I was on the verge of death,” he says, explaining that his health deteriorated irreversibly during this time.

Access to official sources is limited, protection for journalists is insufficient and threats often go unpunished

Rosie Pioth, journalist

After his release, Bemba went into exile in France. But in 2024, he was stabbed in the neck at the train station in Corbeil-Essonnes, a town on the outskirts of Paris. The journalist is convinced that the attacker was hired by his country’s government. The French prosecutor’s office later announced that it had opened an investigation for “attempted murder” to determine the motive for the attack. “I lost more than a liter of blood. I was on sick leave for a month. I’m sure this was the work of the Brazzaville government, which doesn’t tolerate my accusations against it,” he reiterates.

Living in constant fear

Christian Perrin, 55, also had to leave the country because of death threats related to his profession. His troubles began when he reported on the massacre of dozens of young Congolese men in the city of Pointe-Noire, between October 17 and 20 of 2015, by the army and police. This coincided with the campaign for the referendum on President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s continued rule.

“The Congolese government didn’t like my reporting, which put them in a compromising position. And, since they couldn’t stop me or shut me up, they ordered my physical elimination,” this journalist, who fled the country with his family in March 2016, states in a WhatsApp message.

Starting a new life as a refugee was difficult. And, according to Perrin, the persecution never stopped.

Despite their bitter experiences, Perrin, Pioth and Bemba haven’t lost their desire to return to their homeland. Perrin says that practicing journalism in the Republic of Congo means choosing between two options: supporting government propaganda to be able to work without hindrance, or practicing the profession according to ethical principles and accepting the consequences, including the possibility of losing one’s life. “Freedom of the press is a concept that doesn’t exist in Congolese society,” he asserts.

Bemba says that being a journalist in Congo means “constantly living in fear.”

“The political situation is precarious,” he emphasizes. “Freedoms are being suppressed, judges obey [government] orders, public safety isn’t guaranteed and armed gangs do as they please in our cities. Of course, prison or death remain a risk, but I don’t rule out returning to Congo someday.”

***Translated by Avik Jain Chatlani. ***

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