A prominent journalist in the Democratic Republic of Congo has walked free from the notorious Makala prison in the capital, Kinshasa, despite an attempt by the authorities to block his release.

Stanis Bujakera was sentenced to six months in prison on Monday for spreading false information, but had already served that time in pre-trial detention.

State prosecutors filed an appeal, claiming the sentence was too lenient but after several hours of delay, Mr Bujakera was let go.

Prosecutors had asked that Mr Bujakera be jailed for 20 years.

Rights groups called his arrest an attack on press freedom.

He was accused of authoring an article in French-language magazine Jeune Afrique in July, which alleged the military was involved in the killing of prominent opposition politician, Cherubin Okende.

The article was unsigned and did not bear Mr Bujakera's byline.

Mr Okende, a former minister and spokesman for the opposition party Ensemble Pour la Republique (United for the Republic), disappeared in July last year.

His bullet-riddled body was later found in his car in Kinshasa.