IFJ denounces ransacking of Congolese radio station

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has denounced the ransacking of the Butembo provincial broadcasting station of Congolese National Radio and Television (RTNC) by 40 armed men on 16 April, 2006. The perpetrators fired on the transmitters and other equipment destroying the station's capacity to broadcast.

"This is an outrageous attack against the media in the Democratic Republic of Congo" said Gabriel Baglo, Director of the Africa Office of the IFJ. "We demand that the authorities do all they can to arrest and punish those responsible."

Butembo is a town of about 500,000 inhabitants located in the East of the DRC in a region that has suffered 10 years of conflict.

"These acts of vandalism and intimidation continue because of the impunity that has characterised the attacks and killings of journalists in the DRC, most notably the assassination of Franck Kangundu in November 2005, whose assassins are still at large" added Mr Baglo.

Source: Media Network, International Federation of Journalists

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