Kinshasa – Defence lawyers for a former key security adviser of the Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi announced on Tuesday they were pulling out of what they alleged was a “biased” trial.
They also filed a request for the judges in the military court trying Francois Beya to be replaced by an “impartial” bench.
Beya, once known as Tshisekedi’s “Mr Security”, is on trial with six other defendants, including military and police officers. They are accused of having “formed a plot against the life or person of the Head of State”.
But lawyer John Kaboto, spokesperson for the legal team for Beya and the other defendants, told AFP they were pulling out of the trial.
“We lawyers have found that from the start, the investigation is too sloppy, too biased,” he said.
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That was why “we have taken the option of withdrawing” from the trial.
Although defence lawyers had filed bail requests and asked for ailing defendants to get access to medical treatment, the judges failed to rule on them in the legally required time, he said.
The legal team had therefore decided to walk out and seek the recusal of the current judges in favour of “impartial” replacements.
Beya served dictatorial and democratically elected leaders during four successive regimes in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He acquired the nickname “Fantomas” due to an ability to pass unnoticed like a ghost despite his major responsibilities.
Beya was recruited into intelligence in the 1980s while long-time dictator Mobutu Sese Seko ruled the Central African country, receiving training in Europe, the United States and Israel.
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After Tshisekedi won 2018’s presidential election, he named Beya his special security adviser and head of the Congolese National Security Council, covering all national intelligence services.
But he was arrested by intelligence officers on February 5 and held at a secret location before being transferred to Makala prison two months later.
The others on trial with Beya are Brigadier Tonton Twadi Sekele, who is on the run, Colonel Tite Cikapa, senior police Superintendent Lily Tambwe Mauwa, Lieutenant-Colonel Pierre Kalenga Kalenga and two civilians.
The uncertainty at the top of the security apparatus comes as the country remains riven by conflict, with an array of armed groups operating in the east.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Pixabay
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