THE trial of a prominent journalist in the Democratic Republic of Congo has resumed in the capital Kinshasa, with the prosecution calling for a prison sentence of 20 years.
Stanis Bujakera was arrested in September after writing an article in the magazine Jeune Afrique, alleging that an opposition politician, Cherubin Okende, was assassinated by intelligence officers.
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In July, Okende’s body had been found in a car riddled with bullets.
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The prosecutor’s office maintained he had killed himself.
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Human Rights Watch described Mr Bujakera’s case as politically motivated and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi suggested he’d been the victim of what he called “sick justice”.
The press freedom campaign group, Committee to Protect Journalists, is calling for Mr Bujakera’s “immediate and unconditional release”.
