Radio Okapi

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Congolese soldiers arrest, beat 3 journalists covering land dispute

Kinshasa, June 30, 2023—Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo must hold accountable the soldiers who arrested and beat journalists Jeef Ngoyi, Marie-Louise Malou Mbela, and Jiresse Nkelani, and cease detaining journalists covering the news, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On Wednesday, June 28, at least 12 soldiers from the Armed Forces…

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Riot police prepare ahead of civilian protests in Kinshasa. Journalists covering unrest in the DRC risk being detained, attacked, or harassed. (Reuters/Kenny Katombe)

Journalists covering unrest in the DRC face arrests, assault, and internet shutdowns

On New Year’s Eve, as the world prepared to ring in 2018, Congolese journalist Edmon Izula was being repeatedly hit with a rifle and threatened at gunpoint by a member of the state security forces. Iluza was one of at least three journalists harassed by authorities that day, in a scenario that has become common…

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Opposition supporters hold placards reading 'Kabila - get lost' and 'Transition without Kabila' during a protest in Kinshasa on November 30, 2017. At least six local journalists were detained while trying to cover protests across the DRC. (AFP/Junior Kannah)

In DRC at least six journalists detained during anti-government protests

Congolese security forces on November 30, 2017, detained at least six local journalists and confiscated their equipment as they tried to cover countrywide protests over President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to stand down when his second five-year term in office expired in 2016 and his refusal to hold elections, according to a local press freedom group…

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Police sit in a vehicle in front of Notre Dame Cathedral in Kinshasa, on February 25, 2018. Amid protests called by the Catholic Church, the DRC Telecommunications Ministry repeatedly orders internet and SMS shutdowns. (Reuters/Goran Tomasevic)

DRC authorities cut access to internet and SMS ahead of protests

On December 30, 2017, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Telecommunications Minister, Emery Okundji, ordered the country’s telecommunications providers to shut internet and SMS services across the country, according to a media report and the local press freedom group L’Observatoire de la liberté de la Presse en Afrique, (the Observatory of Press Freedom in Africa or…

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Security forces detain protesters in Kinshasa, July 31, 2017. (Reuters/Kenny Katombe)

Journalists detained, harassed, beaten covering Congo protests

New York, August 3, 2017–Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should cease harassing and detaining journalists and should allow them to cover protests and other events of public interest without interference, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Germain Kennedy Mumbere Muliwavyo was killed in a shootout between Congolese armed forces and Ugandan rebels. (Magloire Paluku)

DRC journalist dies from wounds suffered in rebel attack

New York, February 18, 2014–A journalist in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo died on Sunday from gunshot wounds he sustained in a shootout between Congolese troops and Ugandan rebels, according to news reports.

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DRC suspends UN-backed broadcaster Radio Okapi

New York, December 3, 2012–Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo should lift the suspension imposed on Saturday on the United Nations-sponsored broadcaster Radio Okapi in the capital, Kinshasa, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Some of the suspects in the Didace Namujimbo murder trial. (JED)

In Bukavu courtroom, Namujimbo murder trial unfolds

Didace Namujimbo, a journalist for Radio Okapi, was shot dead on the night of November 21, 2008. Now, after repeated delays, a military court in Bukavu, capital of the province of South Kivu in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is putting on trial a dozen people charged in connection with the murder.

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