A student was killed in Kinshasa by a policeman who accused him of not wearing a mask while recording a video, witnesses and local media report.
“Our comrade Honore ‘Shama, from the University of Kinshasa’s faculty of literature, was shooting a video as part of a laboratory. A policeman asked him to wear a mask,” said Patient Odia, a comrade present at ‘incident, “but despite his explanations and after showing the mask, the policeman, angry that he was waiting to receive money, accused him of resisting and shot him at close range,” he added.
Other testimonies were also collected by Top Congo radio, which has a large following in the DRC, and by several online media. Wearing a mask is mandatory in Congo, under penalty of a fine of 10,000 Congolese francs (5 dollars). But in Kinshasa, policemen are often accused of harassing detainees and illegally pocketing fine money without issuing receipts.