It is a thunderclap in the investigation file into the death of the opponent Chérubin Okende, found dead, on July 13, 2023, in his vehicle parked along Avenue des Produits-Lourds, in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The day before, his party, Ensemble pour la République, led by Moïse Katumbi, had expressed concern about his disappearance before the Constitutional Court and denounced a probable “kidnapping”.
Thursday, February 29, the Attorney General at the Court of Cassation, Firmin Mvonde, announced that after “recourse to experts in ballistics and telecommunications, after autopsy and toxicological analyses, Chérubin Okende committed suicide.” To support his statement, the prosecutor mentioned a mysterious notebook, never mentioned before, which would have belonged to Chérubin Okende and in which he said he was “at the end of his rope”.
These statements contradict images that circulated on social networks shortly after the discovery of the body of Chérubin Okende, sitting in the driver’s seat of his car, his chest bloodied, riddled with bullets. No one questioned the thesis of the assassination of this leading political figure, close to Moïse Katumbi, the main opponent of President Félix Tshisékédi, re-elected on December 20 for a second term. The Minister of Communication and government spokesperson, Patrick Muyaya, declared that he “learned of the assassination with horror”. “While condemning this heinous act, [the government] has instructed all security services to act diligently for a thorough investigation,” it added. The prosecutor also announced, on the day of the body’s discovery, the arrest of “a first suspect”, specifying that the testimonies collected did not make it possible to say “who the criminal would be and where he came from”.
A very tense pre-election political climate
Only the motivations and authors of this act, which took place in a very tense pre-electoral political climate, were the only debate. Proof of a very sensitive issue, Stanis Bujakera, deputy director of the online media Actualité.cd, correspondent for the Reuters news agency and the magazine Jeune Afrique, has been languishing since September 8, 2023 in Makala prison, in Kinshasa. The journalist is accused of “making and distributing” a civilian intelligence note incriminating military intelligence in the “assassination” of Chérubin Okende. However, the Jeune Afrique article containing this note was not signed by Stanis Bujakera. To date, all appeals for his release and all requests for provisional release have been rejected. Reporter Without Borders considers that he is “incarcerated on the basis of completely false accusations”.
This precedent risks dampening the investigative enthusiasm of Congolese journalists. Especially since, on Thursday, the prosecutor ended his statement supporting the suicide with a barely veiled threat against them: “I invite journalists to do less gossip [otherwise] the public prosecutor may find that you have crossed the line. edge of tolerability [and] we can get our hands on it! »
The conclusions of the Attorney General scandalized those close to Chérubin Okende. “This version of the prosecution is aberrant and seeks to disguise something,” says Hervé Diakiese, spokesperson for Ensemble pour la République. “It is a state crime and this same state is trying to cover up the criminals,” denounced Olivier Kamitatu, chief of staff of Moïse Katumbi. The two men were surprised by the non-publication of the autopsy results. “Nothing has been communicated, yet only the forensic doctors can comment on the causes of death,” recalls Hervé Diakiese. This lawyer emphasizes that, “legally, suicide means that there is no reason for criminal prosecution.” In other words: case closed.
The last official communication on the investigation, before that of Thursday, concerning the death of Chérubin Okende dates back to July 19. She mentioned the participation of various Congolese but also Belgian and South African experts. “If they [the experts] remain silent, they run the risk of being involved in this repulsive disguise of the truth,” says Olivier Kamitatu. “As Congolese justice conceals the truth, we can now only count on the use of other, extranational means,” declares Hervé Diakiese.
Faced with the silence of the investigating judges, the family of Chérubin Okende in fact filed a complaint, in Brussels, at the beginning of November, against Christian Ndaywel, general and deputy chief of staff in charge of Congolese military intelligence, whose name was was cited in the death of the opponent. The soldier in fact has Belgian nationality. Which, according to Alexis Deswaef, lawyer for the victim’s relatives, gives jurisdiction to the Belgian courts to conduct an investigation and, if necessary, judge the person concerned.
Alexis Deswaef also announced on Thursday his intention to “officially request explanations in the coming days from the Belgian Minister of Justice concerning the results of the expert assessments in order to know whether they have endorsed the so astonishing theory of suicide”.
