(JED/IFEX) – On 17 May 2005, at 8:30 p.m. (local time), Radiotélévision Débout Kasaï (RTDK), a community radio station based in Mbuji-Mayi, capital of East Kasai province, central Democratic Republic Of Congo, was raided by a group of officers from the Congolese National Police’s Special Services, led by Major Israël Kantu. The police closed the […]
(JED/IFEX) – On 17 May 2005, at 8:30 p.m. (local time), Radiotélévision Débout Kasaï (RTDK), a community radio station based in Mbuji-Mayi, capital of East Kasai province, central Democratic Republic Of Congo, was raided by a group of officers from the Congolese National Police’s Special Services, led by Major Israël Kantu. The police closed the station and ordered the staff to leave the premises immediately.
The police did not present an official order during the operation. “No official reason was given. Major Kantu arrived at the station with about 30 officers. He ordered us to stop working and leave the building at once. We were not allowed to take anything with us. Six officers stayed behind to guard the station,” RTDK staff told JED.
When reached by JED on the afternoon of 18 May, Major Kantu said he had “acted on the orders of Provincial Governor Dominique Kanku.” He advised the organisation to “contact the provincial governor if it wants an explanation for the measure.” Despite repeated attempts, JED was thus far unable to reach the governor for comment.
RTDK staff believe the station’s closure is linked to its broadcast of a segment about the distribution of pamphlets in Mbuji-Mayi urging local citizens to participate in a civil disobedience campaign. The segment aired during RTDK’s 16 May 2005 evening news programme.
On the same evening that RTDK was closed, a demonstration in Mbuji-Mayi was brutally suppressed by police. According to Kinshasa newspapers, police shot and killed between three and seven demonstrators. Demonstrators also ransacked the party offices of President Joseph Kabila and Vice-Presidents Jean-Pierre Bemba and Azarias Ruberwa.
