(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Moïse Nyarugado, the vice-president of the Congolese Union for Democracy (Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie, RCD), RSF demanded that the seized equipment of the Maendeleo radio station be returned by RCD soldiers. Robert Ménard, the organisation’s secretary-general, explained that “this seizure effectively amounts to a ban on the radio […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Moïse Nyarugado, the vice-president of the
Congolese Union for Democracy (Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie,
RCD), RSF demanded that the seized equipment of the Maendeleo radio station
be returned by RCD soldiers. Robert Ménard, the organisation’s
secretary-general, explained that “this seizure effectively amounts to a ban
on the radio station.” RSF also urged the RCD representative for the South
Kivu region to “guarantee freedom of expression in areas controlled by the
RCD.”
According to information received by RSF, on 21 July 1999, RCD soldiers
seized the transmitter and the mixing console of the rural private radio
station Maendeleo, which has broadcast in the city of Bukavu since December
1993. This seizure took place after a visit to Bukavu by authorities from
RCD headquarters and the appointment of Masirika Bisimwa as head of the
information and press division.
