Columnist Virginie Manganga freed from Makala after 46 days
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Kivu Morning Post
Congolese columnist Virginie Manganga has left Makala central prison in Kinshasa after 46 days in detention. The Kinshasa/Gombe Peace Court sentenced her to six months' penal servitude suspended in the defamation case pitting her against the artist Fally Ipupa, according to the Kivu Morning Post.
Antenne A columnist Virginie Manganga left Makala central prison, in Kinshasa, on Thursday 5 November 2026, after 46 days in detention, reports the Kivu Morning Post. The Kinshasa/Gombe Peace Court sentenced her to six months' penal servitude suspended, which allowed her to return home to her family.
Virginie Manganga had been arrested on 20 September as she left the Antenne A studios, prosecuted for alleged defamation and complicity after a programme broadcast on the internet in August. In it she had hosted Colette Tuza, a Congolese woman living in Australia, who had made remarks about an alleged relationship with the musician Fally Ipupa. On 21 October, the public prosecutor's office had sought six months' main penal servitude against the columnist, while her lawyers pleaded for acquittal, disputing the facts alleged against her.
On her release, the columnist expressed her gratitude to all those who had supported her during her detention.
Her release comes two weeks after Makala prison suspended new admissions in Kinshasa, on 21 October. In late October, Congolese opposition figure Prince Epenge had been transferred there, and then his lawyer was arrested before being released on 1 November.
