In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), almost eight months after the death of opposition MP Chérubin Okende, it is now forbidden to criticize the prosecution’s conclusion that he committed suicide. The head of the Congolese public prosecutor’s office also ordered the delivery of the complete investigation file to his family.
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The theory of suicide is contested by the family of the deceased and civil society, enough to irritate the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, Firmin Mvonde.
The documents in the file, including the autopsy report and other minutes, should be made available to the Okende family in the coming hours. In a letter, Firmin Mvonde even ordered the return of the vehicle in which the body of the opposition MP was found on July 14.
The family had asked to receive the complete file to attempt legal action, in the DRC or abroad, because they dispute the theory of suicide and still believe in an assassination, a position which irritates the prosecutor Firmin Mvonde who, in this same letter, ordered the Kinshasa High Prosecutor’s Office to arrest any person who is guilty of ” gossip » on this matter. The Attorney General recalls that “ gratuitous assertions constitute false rumors “.
The press was thus directly targeted at the end of February when the conclusions of the investigation were presented. Firmin Mvonde then called the journalists “ to gossip less “, otherwise he warned: “the public prosecutor may find that you have crossed the threshold of tolerability [et] we can get your hands on it “.
Read alsoDRC: investigation into the death of Chérubin Okende concludes it was suicide