Journalist Stanis Bujakera Sentenced for False Information in Congo

Congolese journalist Stanis Bujakera has been sentenced to six months in prison for spreading false information. The court found him guilty and sentenced him to the same sentence, with a fine of 1 million Congolese francs ($360).

Bujakera worked for Actualité.CD and Jeune Afrique, an online news site in Congo. He had faced up to 20 years in prison for fabricating a memo implicating a Congolese intelligence official in the murder of an opposition spokesman.

Reporters Without Borders criticized Bujakera’s case, stating that he should never have been arrested, prosecuted, imprisoned, and convicted based on a fabricated case. Actualité.CD called on Bujakera’s lawyers to appeal the verdict.