(JED/IFEX) – The following is an abridged version of a 27 May 2006 JED press release: RFI’s special envoy denied accreditation; shocked JED asks President Joseph Kabila to resolve the matter Kinshasa, 27 May 2006 In a press release from Radio France International (RFI), a copy of which was received by JED on 26 May […]
(JED/IFEX) – The following is an abridged version of a 27 May 2006 JED press release:
RFI’s special envoy denied accreditation; shocked JED asks President Joseph Kabila to resolve the matter
Kinshasa, 27 May 2006
In a press release from Radio France International (RFI), a copy of which was received by JED on 26 May 2006, RFI demanded that the Congolese authorities formalise the status of RFI’s special envoy to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghislaine Dupond, whose accreditation is being blocked by the press and information minister.
RFI’s special envoy arrived in Kinshasa, with a six-month visa, a little over a month ago to cover the run-up to the next general elections. The official campaign began on 29 June 2006. For Ghislaine Dupond, all steps taken to obtain her accreditation have been in vain.
According to a dispatch from Agence France-Presse (AFP), Press and Information Minister Henri Mova Sakanyi – the very person who is refusing to issue the accreditation – estimates that “since 24 May, at the behest of RFI’s senior officials, the government has issued accreditation to no less than four special envoys [other than Ghislaine Dupond], who, together with the three local correspondants, make RFI the largest international media team.” He also states that “RFI is the best represented media team covering the July 30 elections.”
JED remains dumbfounded and shocked by the insistence of the press and information minister to continue to refuse Ghislaine Dupond’s accreditation requests without legal grounds.
