E/GN.4/1992/17 page 97 (a) Ismet Sopi: on 12 June 1990 two police officers beat him with batons on his back, neck and hands. Reportedly, Ismet Sopi could hardly walk afterwards, and suffered severe bruising; (b) Xhevat Sadika, aged 38, owner of a shop in Gnjilane, was allegedly beaten by police on 23 July 1990 and had to stay in hospital until 28 July. A medical certificate from the surgical clinic of Pristina Medical Faculty stated that he had been admitted urgently to the clinic for treatment of injuries caused by beating; (c) Prof. Alush Gashi, the former Dean of the Medical Faculty of the University of Pristina: on 26 October 1990 he was allegedly beaten by police officers. Urgent appeals and Government replies 266. On 15 May 1991 the Special Rapporteur sent an urgent appeal to the Government of Zaire concerning Essolomwa Ea Linganga, publisher and director of the daily newspaper Elima. According to the source, Mr. Essolomwa had been arrested on 11 May 1991 by several agents of the security forces and policemen in civilian clothes, in front of the building where the Government Prosecutor has his office at Kinshasa, and had been taken to an unknown destination. Mr. Essolomwa had been tortured during a previous period of detention, and fears were expressed that he might again be tortured or ill-treated. 267. On 20 May 1991 the Government of Zaire sent the Special Rapporteur a report prepared by the Government Prosecutor concerning Mr. Essolomwa. The report contains a detailed description of the offences he is alleged to have committed and of his being taken into custody and charged. According to the report, before the Appeal Court Mr. Essolomwa was defended by 10 lawyers, none of whom raised the question of ill-treatment of their client, who was duly present at all the hearings. In accordance with the law, Mr. Essolomwa was the subject of an arrest warrant, which was executed on his leaving the Appeal Court hearing on 11 May 1991, and he was brought before an official of the Department of Public Prosecutions in connection with the publication of false rumours. After spending the weekend of 11 and 12 May 1991 in Makala prison, he was heard by a judicial officer on 13 May and charged with publishing false rumours liable to spread alarm or to incite revolt against the authorities, and a new file was opened. At no time was he tortured, and his newspaper was never seized. From prison he continued to sign articles, which were regularly published by his newspaper, and in which, among other things, he reported certain facts that he said he had observed in the prison. The Government of Zaire stated that at the time the information was sent (20 May 1991) Mr. Essolomwa had been released on bail. Letters 268. On 6 August 1991, the Special Rapporteur sent a letter to the Government of Zaire transmitting information concerning alleged torture and very harsh conditions of detention at the Makala central prison in Kinshasa. The inmates, it was said, were obliged to sleep on the floor and suffered from