Were men from the Wagner group at the origin of the fire which destroyed part of the stock of the MOCAF brewery, a subsidiary of the French group Castel in Bangui, on the night of Sunday March 5 to Monday March 6, 2023? In any case, this is what the extracts from the video surveillance of the site, of which RFI obtained a copy, suggest.
In these images, we see two groups of two men throwing Molotov cocktails over the perimeter wall of the site at the stroke of 1 a.m. These four men are tall, athletic, in military clothes, and carry their submachine guns on their backs.
If their faces and heads are covered, their affiliation with the Russian paramilitary group is likely. In any case, they do not resemble the seven people arrested Monday evening in a Bimbo motel near the brewery and presented by the Central African police as the alleged perpetrators of this arson.
CCTV footage of the fire that destroyed part of the stock at the MOCAF brewery in the Central African Republic.
More CCTV images of the fire that destroyed part of the stock at the MOCAF brewery in the Central African Republic.
MOCAF denounces a “ criminal and premeditated act »
According to local sources, no less than thirty-five incendiary objects were thrown into the storage area, melting a large number of lockers and forcing MOCAF management to throw a large quantity of beer.
A civil protection official told Radio Ndeke Luka on Monday that traces of hydrocarbons had been discovered, leaving little doubt about the criminal origin of the incident. Several personalities, including Prime Minister Felix Moloua, went there on Monday to lend their support to the company.
In a press release published this March 7, 2023 at the end of the day, the MOCAF denounces a “ criminal and premeditated act “having targeted its packaging deposit and having caused ” significant economic and material damage “. A ” villainous act “aiming to make” stop its activities “. The company thanks the Prime Minister and the Minister of the Interior who came quickly to show their support for the staff.
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Founded in 1953, an employer of some 300 people, MOCAF has been a subsidiary of the French giant Castel since 1993, and since the beginning of the year it has been the subject of a campaign of online attacks, malicious acts and hostile demonstrations.
Drone overflights and intrusion attempt
On the night of January 30 to 31, drone overflights had been observed, and an attempted intrusion by hooded people from ” Caucasian guy “, according to a source close to the local authorities, had been interrupted by the arrival of the gendarmes. The next day, while reinforcements from the gendarmerie and the security adviser of the Castel group were on site, the head of Wagner in the CAR, Vitaly Perfilev, reportedly presented himself near the MOCAF, before turning back.
Several groups close to the authorities have accused Castel of funding armed groups that continue to destabilize the country. At the base of these accusations, a 2021 report by the NGO The Sentry, claiming that the sugar refinery SUCAF, another subsidiary of Castel, had paid the Unit for Peace in the Central African Republic (UPC) in exchange for the continuation of its activities. in the Ouaka region, in the center of the country. Since then, Castel has been targeted in France by a preliminary investigation for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity, and SUCAF has been placed in liquidation.
► To read also: RCA: the French beverage giant Castel accused of complicity in war crimes
It is moreover on the SUCAF site in Ngakobo, that at the end of January, the Minister of Livestock Hassan Bouba assured in a video that the subsidiaries of Castel continued to ” refuel ” the rebels ” in ammunition, fuel and food “. Former number 2 of the UPC, rallied to the authorities via the Khartoum agreement and became minister in December 2020, Hassan Bouba was named in the report by The Sentry as one of the main beneficiaries of the agreement between the UPC and the SUCAF. His closeness to the Russian representatives in Bangui is displayed on social networks, and moreover allowed him to quickly leave the jails of the Special Criminal Court in November 2021, when he had been arrested for his alleged role in the Alindao massacre in 2018.
The Wagner group multiplies its activities in the Central African Republic
Evgueni Prigojine’s men have multiplied their activities since their arrival in the Central African Republic: gold, diamonds, wood, spirits; they are now targeting agriculture and livestock, and are also suspected of participating in fuel trafficking.
Several local observers note that the campaign against Castel coincides with the launch of “Afrika Ti l’or”, a beer brewed at the Maison russe in Bangui by the Wagner group. He would like to impose it on the local market, but lacks the necessary production capacities. Even if it means recovering the MOCAF brewery, a unique industrial site in the country?