(JED/IFEX) – On 4 May 2009, a broadcast ban on two Likasi-based, independent media outlets, Community Radio of Katanga (RCK) and Radiotélévision Likasi 4 (RTL4), was lifted. The ban was ordered on 11 March by Jean-Marie Dikanga Kazadi, the provincial minister of the interior, customs, security and communications. Likasi is the capital of the mining […]
(JED/IFEX) – On 4 May 2009, a broadcast ban on two Likasi-based, independent media outlets, Community Radio of Katanga (RCK) and Radiotélévision Likasi 4 (RTL4), was lifted. The ban was ordered on 11 March by Jean-Marie Dikanga Kazadi, the provincial minister of the interior, customs, security and communications. Likasi is the capital of the mining province of Katanga, in the southern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The news was announced at a conference for Likasi journalists commemorating World Press Freedom Day, organised by JED in collaboration with l’Institut Panos Paris (IPP).
Between 1 and 5 May 2009, JED conducted a mission in Katanga province, at which time Likasi Mayor M. Denis Kalondji Ngoy and the minister of the interior urged that greater efforts be made to educate and train journalists in Katanga province in general and Likasi in particular.
Social tension has been heightened in Likasi in recent months, since national railway workers (SNCC) called a strike to demand 36 months in back pay. Workers clashed with police and ransacked the residence of the SNCC director. Following a provincial enquiry, local authorities charged the RCK and RTL4 of “inciting strikes and uttering slanderous comments and tribal slurs” during their coverage of the events.
Updates the RCK and RTL4 case: http://ifex.org/en/content/view/full/101609
