DRC: the family of Chérubin Okende, found dead in July, awaits answers from Belgian justice
In the DRC, the family of the opponent Chérubin Okende, found dead on July 13, 2023 in Kinshasa, is now awaiting answers from the Belgian justice system while the Congolese investigation concluded on February 29, 2024 that it was a suicide by the former minister.
“
It's amazing: one day of investigation to conclude that it was an assassination by his own bodyguard, followed by 7 months of investigation to conclude that it was suicide?
», ruled the lawyer in Belgium of the Okende family.
The latter filed a criminal complaint in November against the head of military intelligence of the DRC, Major General Christian Ndaywel, who has Belgian nationality.
Details.
MP and former minister Chérubin Okende, February 25, 2023, during a press conference in Kinshasa (illustrative image).
© Pascal Mulegwa / RFI
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In the Democratic Republic of Congo (
DRC
), this February 29, 2024, the prosecutor at the Court of Cassation released the conclusions of the investigation into the death of opponent Chérubin Okende.
According to Congolese justice,
he therefore committed suicide
.
His body was discovered lifeless on July 13, 2023, in his car parked on a busy thoroughfare in the capital.
His relatives had not heard from him since the day before.
Relatives who, today, contest this conclusion and are now awaiting answers from the Belgian justice system.
Read alsoDeath of Chérubin Okende in the DRC: “It’s a political assassination”, says Moïse Katumbi
It was last November that this Belgian component officially began.
When Maître Alexis Deswaef, lawyer in Belgium for the opponent's family, filed a criminal complaint with an investigating judge against the head of military intelligence of the DRC, Major General Christian Ndaywel who has Belgian nationality.
Following the announcement by the prosecutor in Kinshasa on Thursday, Maître Deswaef questions the conclusions of the Congolese justice system.
"
It's incredible.
One day of investigation to conclude that it was an assassination by his own bodyguard, followed by 7 months of investigation to conclude that it was suicide?
», asks the lawyer.
Who now wants to obtain the report from the Belgian experts who came to support this Congolese investigation.
Wave of emotions
The death of Chérubin Okende caused a wave of emotions and reactions in the DRC.
And the Congolese authorities had launched a call to international experts for this investigation.
The autopsy of the body was carried out in Kinshasa on August 3, 2023, in collaboration with Belgian experts, South African experts and MONUSCO, the UN mission in the DRC.
Autopsy report which was never revealed until yesterday and the communication from the prosecutor who therefore specified that according to all stakeholders, Chérubin Okende had died of a bullet in the head shot by himself with his bodyguard's weapon also found in the car.
Read alsoDRC: Chérubin Okende's family decides to bury him without waiting for the results of the autopsy
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