(JED/IFEX) – Alimasi Mayanga, director of the national broadcaster Congolese National Radio-television’s (Radiotélévision nationale congolaise, RTNC) local station in Kisangani, the main town in the Eastern province, has been repeatedly threatened since 2 August 2003 by members of the former rebel group Congolese Rally for Democracy (Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie, RCD/Goma). Mayanga is being […]
(JED/IFEX) – Alimasi Mayanga, director of the national broadcaster Congolese National Radio-television’s (Radiotélévision nationale congolaise, RTNC) local station in Kisangani, the main town in the Eastern province, has been repeatedly threatened since 2 August 2003 by members of the former rebel group Congolese Rally for Democracy (Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie, RCD/Goma). Mayanga is being targeted because he cancelled several programmes that focused on the RCD/Goma from his station’s programming schedule without the authorisation of the pro-RCD provincial governor.
On 5 August, Mayanga was summoned by Floribert Asiane, the pro-RCD vice-governor of Eastern province. Threatening him with dismissal, Asiane ordered the journalist to immediately resume broadcasts of all the specialised programmes dedicated to coverage of the former rebel group. “You must be very careful, the RCD still calls the shots in Kisangani,” the vice-governor warned.
Following these verbal warnings and threats, as well as a series of anonymous telephone threats, RTNC/Kisangani resumed all broadcasts of programmes dedicated to coverage of the former rebel group on 5 August.
