17 June 2010

Alert

Station manager released after more than a month in jail


Incident details

Acquittal, Release

Etienne Makula, Journalist

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(JED/IFEX) – Kinshasa, 15 June 2010 – A station manager who was held for 32 days in Matadi's central prison, in Bas Congo province, southwestern Democratic Republic of Congo, was released on 12 June 2010, two days after being acquitted by a Matadi court on charges of "threatening state security", reports JED.

Etienne Makula, better known as "Mike Elima", station manager at Community Radio Moanda (RCM) in Moanda, (approx. 120 km from Matadi), was arrested on 3 May and held for two days by security forces in Moanda before being transferred on 5 May to Matadi's central prison, popularly known as "Camp Molayi".

Maluka's arrest came after he played the song "Cabinda 25", by the Angolan group Kizomba, on the air. The Angolan consul in Moanda appealed to local authorities, complaining that the Portuguese-language song was insulting to Angolan President José Eduardo Dos Santos.



Source:

Journaliste en danger
B.P. 633 - Kinshasa 1
374, av. Col. Mondjiba
Complexe Utexafrica, Galerie St Pierre, 1er niveau, Local 18 Kinshasa/Ngaliema
République Démocratique du Congo
direction (@) jed-afcentre.org
Phone: +243 81 99 29 323
Fax: +44 20 7900 3413
 

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More on this case

Radio station manager held for broadcasting controversial song 11 May 2010

Democratic Republic of Congo

Community radio station back on air after three-month suspension 24 January 2012 Newspapers suspended on alleged administrative violations 10 January 2012 See all alerts: Democratic Republic of Congo


 
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