Congo urged to free imprisoned journalist

Published on 17/02/2013 00:00

A LEADING media advocacy group is calling on Congolese authorities to release a journalist who was sentenced in December to six months in prison on defamation charges.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said Joachim Diana Gikupa, editor of daily newspaper La Colombe, should be released pending an appeal.

CPJ says that Gikupa was convicted of criminal defamation for publishing a report alleging that a Chinese company managing a local hospital had sold expired medication, among other things.