FCC figure Barnabé Wimania Milingano is accused of insulting the head of state and threatening his physical integrity. Following his condemnation on Saturday, the FCC is talking about a dictatorship taking hold. His lawyers state their intention to appeal, while President Tshisekedi’s UDPS says it has nothing to do with this trial.
as reported from Kinshasa, Kamanda wa Kamanda
Barnabé Wimania Milinganyo does not serve her sentence of three years in prison and has decided to appeal on Monday 30 November. During a television broadcast, he had used an expression in the Lingala language that the prosecution interpreted as a death threat against the President of the Republic. About the current political crisis between Cach and the FCC, he had confirmed that the only alternative to cohabitation or to the coalition was, for President Félix Tshisekedi, “akolia mbuma”.
The term is used by soldiers and bandits to say that someone should take a bullet. But for his lawyer Me Willy Ngashi, Milinganyo’s conviction is based on assumptions that are neither established nor in law, for the term “akolia mbuma” simply means “eating fruit”. Justice, he said, must avoid earning just one side.
At the FCC, Félix Kabange Numbi confirms that freedom of expression is now being withdrawn from the people. While in power, Secretary-General of the Presidency Augustin Kabuya rejects any connection between the UDPS and this trial. The UDPS did not lodge a complaint, says Kabuya.
According to his lawyer, it was ANR agents who arrested Barnabé Wimania Milingano to bring him to justice, who himself went in the day after the show.
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