It’s been two years since the fatale event occurred on May 5th 2009 in the jungle outside Kisangani. I’m glad we didn’t know then that Joshua and Tjostolv would still be in prison in Kisangani two years later. That would be a heavy burden to bear for both them and us. But the continually broken promises and the uncertainty is taking its toll on us. All the support we received from many good people have been especially welcome.
The Foreign Ministry (with support from Britain) is still working on getting Joshua and Tjostolv transferred to Kinshasa. Norwegian authorities have gotten insurances that money is not the problem regarding the transfer. We’ve heard that it takes time for the Congolese authorities to get the security in place for the transfer. A request for an audience for the Norwegian ambassador with president Kabila from Norwegian authorities a while ago hasn’t been responded to. There were also plans for a meeting between our Norwegian Foreign Minister and the Congolese at a Forestry Fund meeting that is taken place in Congo Brazzaville at the end of May. But no one from (DRC) Congo will be at this meeting, so they will not meet.
Josh and Tjostolv had some days over Easter that was more quiet than usual (even the disco didn’t make as much noise as before) and they had electricity so they could have the fan on. They got some more sleep because of that. It’s very hot, and they suffer because of it.
We haven’t heard any more about the cholera outburst in Kisangani and surrounding areas. We expect that it’s over. It didn’t get to the prison. They had an outbreak of malaria in the prison just before Easter and Joshua and Tjostolv were busy with the over 20 people who got it.
Someone from the British embassy visited them in Kisangani just before Easter.
Minister Endresen and Ambassador Vea will both visit Kinshasa this month.
Kari Hilde French May 5th 2011
