Lawyers of former Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila announced Thursday that their client “reserves the right to file a complaint” against the media and NGOs that accused him in a report of siphoning off $138 million over five years.
Former President Kabila’s clan was implicated in the investigation titled “Congo Hold-up,” based on 3.5 million confidential bank documents obtained by the French online investigative media Mediapart and the NGO “Platform for the Protection of Whistleblowers in Africa (PPLAAF).”
“Following the serious and intentional violation of his fundamental rights, our client reserves the right to seize incessantly the competent judicial authorities both in the Democratic Republic of Congo and abroad,” said Mr. Raphael Nyabirungu, head of the collective of Congolese lawyers of Mr. Kabila.
Collectives of lawyers have been formed in France, South Africa and the DRC, said Nyabirungu.
A professor of criminal law, Mr. Nyabirungu said he was surprised that the media focused on one man, Mr. Kabila, “who has not caused any harm to any of their countries, without presenting a single piece of evidence, a single transaction in his name or for his benefit, without indicating a single account in his name.
The data that accuses the Kabila clan was analyzed by 19 international media and 5 NGOs over a period of six months under the coordination of the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) network.