Congo presidential candidate gets seven years in jail for insulting president

According to his attorney, presidential candidate Jean-Marc Kabund was found guilty on 12 counts, including disseminating untrue rumours and defaming the head of state, and was sentenced to seven years in jail. Kabund, a longtime friend of President Felix Tshisekedi and a former vice president of parliament, started his own political party last year after the two parted ways. Since his arrest in August 2022 for criticising his government and calling Tshisekedi a “danger” in a speech, he has been detained in Kinshasa’s biggest prison. “The court sentenced him to four months each for the first nine offences and 16 months each for the last three,” Kabund’s lawyer Kadi Diko told Reuters, adding that the most serious offences were “spreading false rumours” and “contempt for head of state and parliament”. “This is an extremely harsh decision, especially as there is no appeal,” the lawyer added. Kabund was not present for the verdict, but in a hearing last month defended himself and repeated his remarks. “I have asked the people to do everything in their power to ensure that Mr Tshisekedi is excluded from the next elections, because I believe that the country is in great danger under his leadership,” he told the court in August. On December 20, there will likely be a general election in Congo, and Tshisekedi will probably run for re-election. Before the vote, political tensing has increased. While opposition groups have launched violent protests criticising flaws in voter registration, an opposition spokesman was shot dead in the capital Kinshasa in July. One of Congo’s highest tribunals, the Court of Cassation, which does not accept appeals, punished Kabund. He had said that he will lead his “Alliance for Change” party and compete for president in the 2018 election. “The presidency is in no way concerned by court decisions,” said Tina Salama, spokesperson for Tshisekedi. “It is neither a plaintiff nor a civil party in this case and therefore cannot comment on it.” (With agency inputs)