(JED/IFEX) – The public prosecutor has requested a three-year prison sentence with no parole for Patrice Booto, managing editor of the Kinshasa-based thrice-weekly “Le Journal” and its supplement “Pool Malebo”. This request was made during the 21 July 2006 public appeal hearing at the Kinshasa/Kalamu High Court in appeal of the earlier Assosa Peace Tribunal […]
(JED/IFEX) – The public prosecutor has requested a three-year prison sentence with no parole for Patrice Booto, managing editor of the Kinshasa-based thrice-weekly “Le Journal” and its supplement “Pool Malebo”. This request was made during the 21 July 2006 public appeal hearing at the Kinshasa/Kalamu High Court in appeal of the earlier Assosa Peace Tribunal verdict.
Sentencing the journalist to only six months in prison for “offending the head of state” and “insulting the government”, and acquitting him from the charge of “publishing incorrect news”, was seen by the public prosecutor as clemency.
The public prosecutor considered the editor’s offences to be for the sole aim of injuring the reputation of the head of state and the transition government, therefore Booto deserved the maximum sentence of three years in prison.
The defense argued that the charges against the journalist are devoid of all grounds, and therefore pleaded for Booto’s acquittal as well as for the restitution of the US$500 fine paid to the Assosa Peace Tribunal following the first verdict announcement.
Also, the defense noted that the since the act for which the journalist was accused was hardly mentioned in the incriminating law, no offense should be held against him.
The case is being deliberated upon and a new verdict is set to be announced on 28 July, on the eve of the 30 July presidential elections.
BACKGROUND:
Patrice Booto had been sentenced to six months in prison and a US$500 fine. The journalist had even paid the required fine as well as all the legal expenses before being notified of the state prosecutor’s appeal. The state prosecutor’s 2 June appeal against the first level verdict, had called into question the 30 May Peace Tribunal decision, which had found Booto guilty of “offending the head of state” and “insulting the government”.
On 2 November 2005, the journalist was arrested for publishing the same article in the 15-21 September 2005 issue (number 20) and the 16-19 September 2005 issue (number 181) of “Pool Malebo” and “Le Journal”, respectively, reporting on the transfer of US$30 million by the DR Congo to the Tanzanian educational sector. At the time, a severe conflict pitted the DR Congo government against the teachers’ unions.
