A prosperous businessman and ex-Governor of Katanga, Moïse Katumbi, was arrested on the 13 May 2016. He was one of the principal leaders of the opposition to President Joseph Kabila in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was apparently «brutalised» by the police and was hospitalised.

The General Prosecutor of Lubumbashi announced on the 20 May that Katumbi had been found guilty of «violation of the internal and external security of the State». He was remanded into custody.

The High Court of the RDC accuses him of having engaged 10 US mercenaries in order to perpetrate a coup d’État. The main suspect, Lewis Darryl L., an ex-contractor for Blackwater, was questioned in the presence of US diplomats and admitted that the accusations were true. Washington dissociated itself from the accused.

According to the AFP, Moïse Katumbi arrived in South Africa on the night of 20 / 21 May.

« Dossier pénal de Moïse Katumbi Chapwe », Réseau Voltaire, May 18th, 2016.

Translation
Pete Kimberley