NATIONAL NEWS - South African journalist and editor Angela Quintal – now Africa Programme Coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) – and her colleague Muthoki Mumo, the sub-Saharan Africa representative for CPJ Africa, have been released in Tanzania following a “high-level intervention” by the department of international relations and cooperation (Dirco).
Dirco spokesperson Ndivhuwo Mabaya said the two were in high spirits but it was a a serious issue and they were still without their passports.
This was confirmed by a family spokesperson.
“Officers who identified themselves as working with the Tanzanian immigration authority detained Quintal and Mumo in their hotel room in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, this evening, according to Quintal,” said CPJ executive director Joel Simon in a statement.
“The officials searched the pair’s belongings and would not return their passports when asked. Quintal and Mumo were then escorted from the hotel and have been taken to an unknown location. They were in the country on a reporting mission for CPJ.”
It was a fraught few hours for family and colleagues.
The first indication there was a problem was a Facebook SOS at about 10pm by Quintal saying they were being taken away for interrogation and they didn’t know why.
At about 3am it was discovered that both their Facebook accounts had been deleted, and both their Twitter accounts were suspended.
CPJ sub-Saharan Africa Representative Muthoki Mumo and Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal in Dar es Salaam on November 7.
