A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has sentenced a Member of Parliament in the country, Édouard Mwangachuchu to death on treason charges.
The High Military Court sitting in Kinshasa delivered the judgement on Friday after finding Mwangachuchu guilty of alleged participation in the M23 insurrection movement, a rebel group made up of predominantly Tutsis, which is Mwangachuchu’s ethnic group, local media reports.
Mwangachuchu, 70, who is the elected representative of Masisi, in the troubled province of North Kivu in eastern DRC, is also the owner of a strategic mining company located in the province, from which prosecutors say proceeds were used to fund the militia group.
According to military prosecutors, weapons of war originating from North Kivu were discovered concealed within several safes.
The presiding judge of the Military High Court, General Robert Kalala told journalists that Mwangachuchu was found guilty of “illegal possession of weapons and munitions of war”, “participation in the M23 insurrectionary movement” and “treason”.
He added that guards who served at Mwangachuchu’s society were predominantly Tutsis who were demobilized from the Rwandan army and operated in the uniform of the Congolese national police.
“These uniforms were allegedly provided with the complicity of provincial administrative authorities,” Gen. Kalala said.
“The proceedings against Mr. Mwangachuchu were triggered when the M23 rebels, who had seized the mining town of Rubaya in North Kivu, were dislodged by the local natives organized in a self-defense movement.
“The latter had then discovered a cache of weapons on the Bibatama site belonging to the Bisunzu mining company (SMB), owned by Mr. Mwangachuchu.”
But Mwangachuchu’s defence team, which had pleaded for an acquittal, said it would appeal the sentence to the Supreme Court.
Mwangachuchu’s lead counsel, Thomas Gamakolo, who addressed a press conference after the verdict, denounced what he termed as the “iniquitous decision, motivated by considerations alien to the law”.
According to Gamakolo, the “trial was based on ethnic hatred and deductions”.
“We have never been able to prove that Mr. Mwangachuchu has any links with Rwanda, but because of his ‘Tutsity’, we have established a presumption of guilt. It is very difficult today in our country to live or exist as a Tutsi,” lamented Gamakolo.