Congo expels Reuters reporter | Reuters:

DAKAR, Reuters – The Democratic Republic of Congo has expelled a French journalist working for Reuters after her application for journalistic accreditation was not approved.

Sonia Rolli applied for accreditation in September to take on the assignment of coordinating Reuters’ coverage of the Congo. He was granted permission to cover a climate conference in the capital Kinshasa in October while he waited for the application to be considered.

On Tuesday, he received a written notice to report to immigration police in Kinshasa, who he says confiscated his passport and took him to Paris via Addis Ababa. He said the reasons for the decision were not provided to Rolley.

The Police Communications Department told Reuters the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Reuters was unable to reach an Interior Ministry spokesman late on Tuesday, and calls to officials at the Ministry of Communications and Media went unanswered.

At 5:25 p.m. on Tuesday, a government official sent a WhatsApp message to another Reuters reporter saying:

The official, who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to speak to the media, did not specify which services he was referring to.

“We are offering assistance to Sonia Rolley and are urgently seeking information from the Congolese authorities,” Reuters said in a statement.

Reuters will continue to report independently and impartially from Congo, as we do around the world.”

Reporting by Beit Felix; Editing by Alexandra Zavis and Rosalba O’Brien

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