DRC: Vital Kamerhe sentenced to 13 years in prison on appeal
Vital Kamerhe has been a powerful player on DR Congo's political scene for two decades AFP / File
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3 min
Sentenced last year to twenty years in prison for embezzlement of public money, Vital Kamerhe, former chief of staff of the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has had his conviction confirmed.
The lieutenants of the former head of the Tshisekedi administration have come back up and denounce a political judgment.
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With our correspondent in Kinshasa,
Pascal Mulegwa
The judgment fell like a cleaver after 7 p.m. at the courthouse and it was the end of the suspense for critics of Vital Kamerhe - who expected the renewal of his twenty-year prison sentence - as well as for his supporters who have been demanding his acquittal for a year.
The court ruled: thirteen years in prison.
The judgment was quickly challenged by Jean-Marie Kabengele, Vital Kamerhe's lawyer.
“
We do not agree with this decision, our client does not deserve any trouble.
We will, after consultations with him, find out which path to take.
"
The judges stood firm on the tens of millions of dollars in damages to the civil parties, the restitution of more than 50 million dollars embezzled, as well as the seizure of property and funds lodged in the bank whether for Kamerhe, his wife and her two daughters-in-law.
A “
bogus
”
judgment
, plague Billy Kambale, the secretary general of Vital Kamerhe's party, the UNC. “
This judgment is absolutely not opposable to us. It is a political plot that will never pass. This confirms what we were saying from the start, it was a political plot. And individuals instead of managing the Republic spend their time settling accounts with the most representative leader of the Republic. The national political leadership of my party will meet and will exercise the options because they must know that the UNC is going to stand in their way.
"
As for Samih Jammal, the Lebanese businessman, owner of the companies Samibo Congo and Husmal who had obtained the contracts by mutual agreement of the prefabricated houses, he saw his sentence significantly reduced from twenty years to six years of forced labor.
Jeannot Muhima, the president's import and export manager, also sees his sentence reduced from three years to one year in prison.
During the night, the police dispersed activists who had gathered near the UNC headquarters in Kinshasa to protest the judgment.
The UNC has remained in coalition with President Félix Tshisekedi despite the conviction of its leader for a year.
The party has five members in the current government.
► Read also:
Conviction of Vital Kamerhe in the DRC: how did we get there?
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