The blatant trial of eight Lucha activists began on Monday before a military tribunal in Beni, northern Kivu. They were arrested last Saturday when the civic movement demanded demonstrations against the renewal of the mandate for the UN mission Monusco. According to police, they deliberately attacked a police station in revenge for the ban on their demonstration and attacked police. A version that Lucha denies.
Police in riot gear stormed a rally on Saturday, removing hundreds of protesters by truck. Lucha activists with tear gas. But for the civic movement, which promised to respect the barrier measures, it is a violation of the most fundamental freedoms.
For Stewart Muhindo, one of his activists, this violation continues with this trial. His comrades never attacked the mobile police group in Beni: “To say that people have been forced into the police premises is completely false because it is the police themselves who brought activists to their premises. We regret to note that, unfortunately, the most fundamental rights of our comrades are being violated and we hope that the case can be transferred to a civil court that can recognize our comrades’ innocence and set them free.
According to witnesses who witnessed the scene on Saturday, six Lucha activists were actually arrested during the demonstration and at least one of them had been beaten by the police. A group of protesters then broke into the police station to demand the release of their comrades. They knocked down the pole where the DRC flag was hung, which Lucha attributes to a storm. Police fired tear gas again and arrested two other activists. Result: prosecution accused militants and a dozen were injured among the protesters.
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