Afrigather Distinguished Congolese journalist Stanis Bujakera, launched from jail this week after spending six months behind bars, has accused the federal government of searching for to intimidate journalists trying into the demise of an opposition politician.
Bujakera, who’s deputy director of the Actualite.cd information web site and a daily contributor to RFI and worldwide shops, stated that he had been focused by the state for reporting on the demise of Cherubin Okende.
A former minister and spokesman for the opposition celebration Ensemble pour la République (“Collectively for the Republic”), Okende disappeared on 12 July final yr.
His bullet-riddled physique was present in his automotive in Kinshasa the next day.
Bujakera was arrested in September over a report that appeared in French journal Jeune Afrique concerning the doable involvement of the nation’s intelligence bureau, based mostly on a leaked confidential memo.
Although the journal stated Bujakera was not the creator of the story, he was charged with spreading falsehoods and forging paperwork and jailed awaiting trial.
He was discovered responsible earlier this month, and sentenced to time served and a effective of 1 million Congolese francs (round 330 euros). He was lastly launched on 19 March.
‘Completely fabricated’
Talking to RFI in his first interview as a free man, Bujakera described the stress on him to disclose his sources, and the stress on the judges to convict him.
Join free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the most recent in African information delivered straight to your inbox
“They needed to convict me to scare different journalists,” he informed RFI’s Christophe Boisbouvier.
“There was nothing proper within the case towards me, so it is a completely fabricated affair. Completely fabricated to attempt to intimidate us.”
Bujakera’s arrest got here three months earlier than presidential elections within the DRC and “the authorities needed to regulate data”, he maintains.
#RDC : Libre, parce que vous vous êtes mobilisés. Je vous dois tout 🙏. Face à l’oppression et aux intimidations, résistons. Voici mon message alors que je reprends le contrôle de ce compte, votre compte, canal de l’data certifiée en #RDC 👇 pic.twitter.com/XyQnn3bVau— Stanis Bujakera Tshiamala (@StanysBujakera) March 21, 2024
Harmful data
Bujakera informed RFI that he had no plans to attraction the conviction till he had religion that DRC’s justice system was actually impartial.
In the meantime former minister of tourism Modero Nsimba appeared in courtroom in Kinshasa this week, to face fees of propagating rumours towards the household of President Felix Tshisekedi within the wake of Okende’s demise.
His arrest got here after the sharing of controversial audio recordings concerning the alleged homicide on social networks.
Okende was buried this week in Kinshasa. The Congolese judiciary nonetheless insists he died by suicide.
