(JED/IFEX) – Franck Masunzu, a journalist and host of a local community radio show in the town of Walikale, in North Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was released early in the afternoon of 14 October 2008 after being held for two days by the local office of the Agence Nationale des Renseignements […]
(JED/IFEX) – Franck Masunzu, a journalist and host of a local community radio show in the town of Walikale, in North Kivu province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), was released early in the afternoon of 14 October 2008 after being held for two days by the local office of the Agence Nationale des Renseignements (ANR), the state intelligence agency.
According to information received by JED, the intelligence services took issue with Masunzu’s interview of Bertrand Bisimwa, a spokesperson for the Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP), a local rebel group engaged in fighting with government forces. The interview was part of an 8 October report on the recent capture by CNDP forces of the Rumangabo military camp in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province. The ANR accuses Bisimwa of criticising government troops during the interview.
After the journalist was released, the radio station, which had suspended all broadcasts on 13 October in protest over Masunzu’s arrest, went back on the air.
