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DRC blocks internet ahead of banned protests
[NEWS24] Authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... blocked the internet in Kinshasa and set up roadblocks throughout the city ahead of planned protests on Sunday demanding that President Joseph Kabila leave power. Catholic church leaders have called for a mass peaceful demonstration against Kabila's 17-year rule, three weeks after a similar protest on New Year's Eve that ended in deadly violence. The authorities have banned all demonstrations, and at around midnight, the internet, email and social media messaging networks were cut in the capital, AFP correspondents said. Security forces have installed roadblocks on major routes into Kinshasa, while armed officers are conducting ID checks. The church has also called for rallies in several other cities including Lubumbashi and Goma, but the government has banned all demonstrations since September 2016, when anti-Kabila protests turned violent. The head of the Moslem community in DRC has backed the church, urging the authorities to allow the march to take place despite no official permission being granted. "I ask the authorities to avoid repressing the march," Cheikh Ali Mwinyi M'Kuu, legal representative of the Moslem community, told AFP on Saturday. "If they decide to repress, there will be no peace. But if they let the march take place, they will respect the constitution and peace will prevail." The previous anti-Kabila march, on December 31, descended into a bloody crackdown after police and security forces gave the demonstrators a whiff of grapeshot. Posted by: Fred 2018-01-22 |
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