Congolese journalist Stanis Bujakera remains in prison, lawyers say

As a result, Bujakera will remain in jail pending the appeal ruling, his legal team added. A court in the capital Kinshasa on Monday found Bujakera, who works for international media outlets including Jeune Afrique and Reuters, guilty of spreading false information among other charges.

A state prosecutor in the Democratic Republic of Congo has lodged an appeal against a sentence which convicted journalist Stanis Bujakera to six months in prison, Bujakera's lawyers said on Tuesday. As a result, Bujakera will remain in jail pending the appeal ruling, his legal team added.

A court in the capital Kinshasa on Monday found Bujakera, who works for international media outlets including Jeune Afrique and Reuters, guilty of spreading false information among other charges. It sentenced him to six months in prison and fined him 1 million Congolese francs ($364). His legal team said after the ruling that Bujakera would be released on Tuesday because he had already served his sentence.

Instead, Bujakera's lawyer Charles Mushizi told reporters on Tuesday that Bujakera, who denies all charges, would remain in jail because of the prosecutor's appeal. "Journalist Stanis Bujakera did not leave the Makala prison this evening. That is due to the appeal that has been lodged by the prosecutor against yesterday's ruling," Mushizi said.

The case will now be heard by an appeals court. Two further rounds of appeal are possible, according to Congo's judicial system. Bujakera was arrested in September on suspicion of spreading false information about the killing of a prominent opposition politician in an article published by Jeune Afrique, the French news magazine has said.

The prosecutor in the case earlier this month had asked the court in Kinshasa to sentence Bujakera to 20 years in prison. Local and international rights groups including Reporters Without Borders and Amnesty International had condemned Bujakera's detention, calling it an attack on press freedom. Reuters has also called for his release. (Writing by Bate Felix; Editing by Silvia Aloisi and Daniel Wallis)

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