KINSHASA (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo expelled a French journalist working for Radio France Internationale on Monday, weeks ahead of long-awaited national elections in the vast central African country.
Ghislaine Dupont, a Paris-based correspondent who has covered Congo for many years, had been in Kinshasa for several months trying to get accreditation to cover the polls on July 30. No official reason was given for her expulsion.
The French journalist said she was summoned to a police station on Monday, where she was finger-printed, photographed and escorted to the airport.
"The only thing they said was I had been working without accreditation," she said before boarding a plane to Brussels.
Diplomats are concerned the move could be part of a wider crackdown on the press as campaigning for what are supposed to be the first free national elections in the country in more than four decades gets under way.
"This is very worrying -- it sets a very bad precedent," a Western diplomat told Reuters.
"It makes a nonsense of freedom of press not to give accreditation and then expel a journalist like this," the diplomat said.
RFI have issued statements and written to President Joseph Kabila to try to ensure their journalist could cover the presidential and parliamentary vote.
The police department responsible for Dupont's expulsion was not immediately available to comment while Congo's government spokesman said he was not aware of the issue.
It is hoped that this month's elections will offer the vast African nation a fresh start after years of dictatorship, conflict and chaos.
Congo's last war, a 1998-2003 conflict that sucked in six neighbouring countries, still simmers, adding to the four million already killed, mostly from hunger and disease.
