[COMMUNICATION] – Journalist in Danger (JED) expresses relief following the resumption on Thursday, 1 August 2019, at 2 pm, of the activities of the opposition private broadcaster, RTV1, after a closure extended by more than a month.

No statement by the Congolese officials accompanied this recovery, nor justified the reasons for the closure of this chain.

JED vigorously condemns this arbitrary act which casts great doubt on the democratic image of the new power of Mr. Felix Tshisekedi, and his expressed desire to respect the freedom of the press.

In a statement made public earlier this week, opposition leaders, members of the « Lamuka » platform, gathered in Lubumbashi, denounced the muzzling of the press, under Felix Tshisekedi, and denounced the closure of the RTVS 1 which belongs to Mr. Adolphe Muzito, to one of the members of this opposition.

Le signal de la RTVS1 d'Adolphe Muzito, coupé il y a 1 mois, a été rétabli dans l'après midi de ce jeudi 1 août, en clair et sur TNT, grâce à l'implication personnelle du Chef de l'État, Félix Antoine Tshisekedi, son Dircab Vital Kamerhe sans oublier PDT Joseph Olengakoy pic.twitter.com/OrVwRqWxst

— BAKEMBA Michael (@BakembaM) August 1, 2019

As a reminder, the signal of the RTVS 1 was abruptly cut off on Saturday, June 29, 2019, without any notification, verbal or written, addressed to the managers of this media. This interruption occurred when the media broadcast a program called « Special Lumuka » calling the population to participate in a peaceful march on June 30, 2019, including to claim « the truth of the ballot box ».

This demonstration of the opposition was prohibited, the day before, by the urban authority on the grounds that June 30 was a memorial day of the independence of RD Congo.