Article: “Stanis Bujakera, renowned journalist in the DRC, still detained: an attack on press freedom”
For more than a week, Stanis Bujakera, deputy publication director of Actualité.CD and correspondent for Jeune Afrique and Reuters in Kinshasa, has been unjustly detained in Makala prison. This arrest follows the publication of an article in Jeune Afrique accusing military intelligence of being involved in the assassination of former minister Chérubin Okende. However, Stanis is not the author of this article, but he is paying the price for this situation.
This detention provoked strong reactions from the media, politicians, human rights defenders as well as Western chancelleries. Amnesty International also spoke out on this matter, denouncing the attacks on Stanis Bujakera’s rights and emphasizing that these accusations clearly aim to muzzle independent journalists in the DRC.
The situation of journalists has continued to deteriorate in the DRC in recent months. Under the regime of Félix Tshisekedi, there were some advances at the start of his mandate in 2019, but since then the situation has returned to normal, with the same methods used by previous regimes. The authorities are now using nationalist discourse to repress any dissenting voice and silence journalists who dare to denounce abuses of power.
This arrest is much more than an attack on press freedom. She is the symbol of a worrying situation in the DRC, where human rights are violated and where freedom of expression is increasingly threatened. Journalists, who have an essential role in society, must be able to exercise their profession with complete independence and without fear of unfair reprisals.
It is time for the Congolese authorities to take measures to guarantee press freedom and protect journalists. Stanis Bujakera must be released immediately and the trumped-up charges against him dropped. The DRC must embark on the path to democracy and respect for fundamental rights to ensure a better future for its people.