DRC: Fortunat Biselele asks for treatment outside prison
Fortunat Biselele, former adviser to President Tshisekedi, upon his arrival at the Gombe courthouse, Friday January 20, 2023. © Pascal Mulegwa / RFI
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Fortunat Biselele, charged with "treason, undermining the external security of the state and spreading false rumors", fears for his health.
Arrested in January 2023 and detained in Makala central prison, the former adviser to DRC President Félix Tshisekedi is still awaiting trial.
But according to his lawyers, his health is deteriorating and requires specialist care outside of prison.
They seized the parliamentarians, after various correspondences with the health authorities.
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With our correspondent in Kinshasa,
Pascal Mulegwa
According to his lawyers,
Fortunat Biselele
suffers from "
very excruciating pain
" in his right shoulder.
Their client, they sense, must undergo urgent surgery.
Medical documents consulted by RFI certify that his pain is accompanied by a "
cramp at the end
" of the fingers of the right hand.
In early February, the medical director of Makala prison recommended treatment by an orthopedic specialist to "
prevent permanent immobility of the right upper limb
".
His attending physician, meanwhile, said last week in another correspondence, that there is to date, in the DRC, no technical platform for his care.
It is “
superfluous
”, estimates with RFI a prosecutor familiar with the file, annoyed by “
delaying tactics of the lawyers for
”, according to him, “
to withdraw the prisoners from justice
”.
The lawyers also believe that the former adviser is “
abusively kept in custody
” and that procedural rights have not been respected.
For the prosecution, serious and serious clues of guilt weigh on the man who whispered, until the end of 2022, in the ear of President Felix Tshisekedi.
#RDC🇨🇩: Former private adviser to the Head of State, Fortunat Biselele is "not only abusively kept in custody, worse, he is forbidden to take health care given his current condition", denounces the union of defenders human rights.
(Open letter) pic.twitter.com/E7Pgce8xh9
— Pascal Mulegwa (@pascal_mulegwa) February 25, 2023
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