François Beya, former special adviser to Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi in matters of security will be before the judges of the high military court, this Friday morning in Kinshasa. He and his 5 co-defendants are being prosecuted for having, between 2020 and the beginning of February 2022, “participated in a conspiracy to attack the person of the President of the Republic”. What charges weigh against this man who has served all the previous Congolese regimes?
With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Pascal Mulegwa
The military prosecutor first affirms that François Beya, without authorization from the Ministry of Defense and the Presidency, allegedly ordered a colonel, chief of his protocol, to buy military equipment from a Belgian company: “ three military outfits, a military polo shirt, a backpack, a pair of boots and two belts “.
The accusation most substantiated by the military prosecutor concerns links maintained by François Beya and certain controversial figures from the entourage of former President Joseph Kabila.
In 2021, he reportedly traveled to Harare, Zimbabwe to meet in person with fugitive General John Numbi, the former Inspector General of the Army and prime suspect in the assassination of two human rights defenders, Floribert Chebeya and Fidele Bazana.
The military prosecutor also suspects John Numbi of actively recruiting former Congolese militiamen who have taken refuge in Angola and Namibia to overthrow the regime in place.
The military prosecutor holds against François Beya the fact of having refrained from providing the president with information ” on plans or acts of treason or espionage “.
By way of example, the subpoena alludes to the ” preparatory acts to destabilize the power of Kinshasa from Tanzania following the pooling of forces between the DRC and Uganda “.
The former head of national security would also have concealed, according to the prosecution, the existence of an infiltration network of Bakata Katanga militiamen in the major cities of Katanga. The prosecutor also speaks of insulting remarks that François Beya would have made against the head of state. For this load, it has audio messages.
His lawyers did not wish to speak before the start of the trial.
► Read: DRC: President Tshisekedi’s security adviser, François Beya, charged with conspiracy