Jean-Marc Kabund, the former leader of the presidential party, has been sentenced to seven years in prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for charges of insulting the head of state, as announced by his defense on Wednesday.
The sentence imposed on Kabund is more severe than the three-year prison term that the public prosecutor had initially sought. The Court of Cassation has affirmed that all the offenses for which Mr. Kabund was prosecuted were established, as conveyed by Kaddy Ditou during a press statement. The court handed down an accumulation of sentences and sentenced him to 84 months of primary penal servitude, equivalent to 7 years in prison, as explained by the lawyer.
Among the charges Kabund faced were insulting the Head of State, insulting the Head of State and the institutions of the Republic, and propagation of false rumors. These details were provided at the conclusion of the hearing, which was not open to the public.
The lawyer remarked, “It’s a very severe sentence.” Given that this decision was rendered by the Court of Cassation in the first and final instance, it cannot be appealed.
Jean-Marc Kabund, formerly the head of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS), the party of Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi, is a deputy and former vice-president of the National Assembly. He was arrested on August 9, 2022, and has remained in detention at Makala, the main prison in Kinshasa.
In July 2022, he announced the creation of his own party, the Alliance for Change, and criticized the absence of a clear vision, along with notorious incompetence and institutionalized mismanagement characterised by carelessness, irresponsibility, enjoyment, and predation at the top of the State. These comments were reiterated during his trial.
Near the Court of Cassation, associates and members of Kabund’s party regarded the trial as political, particularly in the lead-up to the general elections scheduled for December 20. President Tshisekedi, in office since January 2019, is running for a second five-year term.
This conviction unfolds in a tense pre-election context, marked by a rise in the arrests of opposition figures and journalists in recent months. Another opposition figure, Salomon Kalonda, who has been in custody since May 30 and is a close advisor to presidential candidate Moïse Katumbi, was transferred from the Ndolo military prison to a health facility on Tuesday evening, according to his lawyer.
Journalist Stanis Bujakera, accused of spreading false rumours and a correspondent for publications such as Jeune Afrique, has been detained in Kinshasa since Friday.