It is summer vacation and fairly quiet on many levels. But there is still some movement in the Congo case. Seaman’s priest Knut Lyngseth had a good week with the boys. He thinks they’re in good condition despite their situation. But they are sick and tired of being imprisoned for over a year and are emotionally exhausted. Josh and Tjostolv are very aware of how important it is to maintain good daily routines and as good hygiene as it’s possible to have in a prison in Congo.
They exercise, eat healthy, run their clinic and help their inmates in different ways, read and listen to the radio. The Congolese person that we pay gets what they need of food, water, coal and other things. They cook their own food in a simple way.
The deadline for the appeal is now over, but we don’t know if it has been formalized, but if it isn’t it’s just the paperwork left. The verdicts are now enforceable and the Foreign Ministry can do their work now. We’ve learned that Norwegian and British Foreign Ministry will work close together in the time ahead.
There had to be more work done on the official pardon appeals from the boys, but now the final draft has been translated into French and signed by Tjostolv and Josh. They will then be sent to the Foreign Ministry that will see to that they are handed over correctly through the official diplomatic channels.
I have contact with Dr. Joseph Amamoo, whom I wrote about in my last blog. He is from Ghana and was a political prisoner for 15 months himself. As far as I’ve understood, he was imprisoned with the current president in Ghana. He has been highly positioned and knows many influential people in Africa and other places. He has two daughters who are both lawyers, and all three of them now work on contacting people in power and influence in different contexts to add more pressure on the Congolese authorities in this case. It’s exiting when some of Africa’s own involves themselves in this way.
Kari Hilde French, July 20th 2010
