On September 13, 2023, elements of the Republican Guard (GR) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) confiscated the work equipment (dictaphone, press card) of journalist Jean Claude Mukulu, who works for Radio Amani in Rubaya in North Kivu Province. The incident occurred while he was reporting on a delegation of expatriates visiting some artisanal miners in the Luoo, D3 Bibatama and D2 Kakombe mining sites. The confiscated work equipment was handed to the National Intelligence Agency (ANR). According to Observatoire de la Liberté de la Presse en Afrique (OLPA), a local press defense group, Mukulu was also threatened by the military and was forced to delete the contents of the interview he conducted. The following day, on September 14, Mukulu was arrested from his home, taken to an ANR office and detained over ten hours before being released. He was interrogated and accused of alerting the public about “the blunder of the presidential guard”.
IPI Africa Media Freedom TrackerArrest/detentionArrest/detention/chargesCensorship and regulationConfiscation of a reporter's or media outlet's equipment, notes, mobile phoneDeletion of contentSurveillance/endangering Source ProtectionVerbal attack, threats against journalistsVerbal, online or physical attack