DRC: former minister Willy Bakonga released
Former minister Willy Bakonga left Makala prison in Kinshasa on Thursday evening, November 26 (illustrative image) AFP PHOTO / JUNIOR D. KANNAH
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Former Congolese Minister of Education Willy Bakonga was released Thursday evening.
Information confirmed to RFI by its lawyers.
Involved in the Hundred Days affair - case of embezzlement of public funds in which members of the Tshishekedi government were implicated - Willy Bakonga was sentenced last April to 3 years for money laundering, but he is now hui free.
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►The circumstances of Willy Bakonga's release are still unclear.
If on Thursday rumors of a presidential pardon circulated, when RFI contacted the deputy spokesperson of the presidency Tina Salama, she affirmed that there was no specific order in the name of Willy Bakonga.
Same story for the Minister of Justice Rose Mutombo.
She certified Thursday morning that she was not aware of any release procedure.
For their part, the lawyers of the former minister of Joseph Kabila and the current president Félix Tshishekedi did not wish to comment.
Only Master Ruffin Lukoo expressed his satisfaction, his client can now enjoy "
freely his natural right to find his family and prepare his defense,
" he said.
Because despite his release, Willy Bakonga has not yet finished with Congolese justice.
His conviction last April was for money laundering.
He had left the country a few months earlier with more than $ 10,000 in his pocket.
But he has not yet been tried for the initial offense, that is to say the alleged embezzlement of this money.
Read also: One year of Félix Tshisekedi in power in the DRC: where are the promised reforms?
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