Joshua:
Two days ago I finally got in touch with Joshua again on the phone. He thought maybe he had malaria again. He apparently had a doctor there and got a prescription for malaria medicine, but it’s not easy to get the medication in to the prison. Our helpers down there get money on a regular basis through the Western Union, who also goes to pay for doctors and medicine. Despite the fact that the Foreign Ministry has promised us daily reports on how the guys are doing in Kisangani, we don’t always get these reports. So I don’t really know how Joshua is doing at the moment.
Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK):
I met Mathilde Moland for the first time on Friday, even though we’ve had a lot of contact in these months on the phone, text messages and e-mail. We met at Marienlyst where we were going to be on the programme “Viggo on Saturday”. It was nice to meet, and we got a little time to speak alone, and I was of course eager to hear how it had been to visit the boys in Kisangani.
Reprieve:
An English human rights organisation called Reprieve has shown an interest in the case. Joshua is a British citizen as well. It was nice to read what the well known advocate for human rights Clive Stafford Smith told Dagbladet in regards to the question that Norwegian authorities has said that they won’t interfere in an internal court proceeding. Quote: “That is just nonsense. They can’t just sit by and watch someone risk the death penalty. It’s fine that they state that they are against the death penalty, but when a citizen gets unfair treatment like this, they have a moral responsibility to go in with all their weight. It’s absurd to say that its Congo’s right to have an unfair trial.”
BBC:
BBC in England has taken an interest in the case and I was interviewed over the phone on the local BBC-radio. If all goes according to plan a TV-team from BBC will come to Norway on Wednesday to interview lawyer Furuholmen and me. Apparently it was cheaper to do it like this than renting a studio at the Norwegian Broadcast.
Joshua’s sister, Hannah has worked with a journalist at the local paper where we lived in England.
Rapport:
A note written by Joshua about some human rights violations he has experienced (see human rights violations in the rubric saken (the case)) has now been sent to UN’s human rights committee in Genève.
Kari Hilde French November 30th 2009
