Congolese journalist Bujakera sentenced to six months in jail

Summary:

• Congolese journalist Stanis Bujakera is set to be released soon after being found guilty and sentenced to six months in prison for spreading false information, among other charges.

Congolese journalist Stanis Bujakera is expected to be freed soon after a court found him guilty and sentenced him to six months in prison for spreading false information among other charges, according to media freedom group Reporters Without Borders.

He was expected to be released hours or days after the Monday verdict, having already served more than six months while waiting for trial. A court in Kinshasa also fined him one million Congolese francs ($360.)

Bujakera worked for Actualité.CD, a Congolese online news site, and Jeune Afrique, a Paris-based magazine, among others.

Bujakera, who has denied all charges, had faced up to 20 years in prison. He was accused of fabricating a memo that implicated a Congolese intelligence official in the murder of an opposition spokesman.

Appealing the verdict

“He should never have been arrested, prosecuted, imprisoned and convicted on the basis of a case that was clearly fabricated against him,” Reporters without Borders said in a statement.

In a statement, Actualité.CD said it stood behind Bujakera’s reporting and called on his lawyers to appeal the guilty verdict.

Bujakera’s imprisonment drew widespread condemnation from international rights organisations.