(Bloomberg) -- The Democratic Republic of Congo’s government expelled French journalist Sonia Rolley after declining to grant her accreditation.

Rolley, who has worked in Africa for nearly two decades primarily with Radio France International, recently joined Reuters news agency to oversee its coverage in Congo. No reason was given for the expulsion, according to Reuters. 

“We are offering Sonia Rolley assistance and urgently seeking information from the Congolese authorities,” Reuters said. Congo’s communications ministry said in a statement on Twitter that Rolley’s legal status in the country was “irregular” and it was inappropriate to call the government’s actions an attack on press freedom. 

The expulsion on Tuesday comes amid increased concern about protection for journalists in the country, according to the United Nations. Congo’s President Felix Tshisekedi is up for re-election next year.  

UN Concern

In a statement on Twitter Tuesday, the UN said it “is concerned about the conditions in which this expulsion took place and calls on the authorities to respect the procedures in force and to protect journalists.” 

The DRC is ranked 125th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders’ 2022 World Press Freedom Index.

With nearly 700,000 followers on Twitter, Rolley is a powerful force in journalism in Africa. 

While at RFI, she was part of the Congo Hold-up consortium -- a group of five non-governmental organizations and 19 media outlets, including Bloomberg News, that has published dozens of stories since last year on the biggest leak of financial data out of Africa. 

Read: Biggest African Bank Leak Shows Kabila Allies Looted Congo Funds

Rolley produced a multi-part investigative series into a rebellion in Congo’s Kasai provinces and the 2017 murders of two UN experts, eventually testifying in the trial of the alleged perpetrators. 

She also worked on a report for New York University’s Congo Research Group that called into question the results of the 2018 election that bought Tshisekedi to power. 

“This is the first time in my 20-year career that I have been formally expelled,” Rolley said in a post on Twitter Wednesday. “I remain stunned for it to happen today in Congo in this way after all these years of reports, investigations.” 

 

(Adds government comment in third paragraph, journalist’s response in final paragraph)

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