Tshisekedi family faces mine looting complaint in Brussels
A complaint was filed in Brussels on Tuesday against nine family members of Félix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, La Libre reports. They stand accused of looting mines in the southern provinces of Lualaba and Upper Katanga.
The accused include Tshisekedi's sister-in-law, sons, brothers and cousins, and the country's first lady. The complaint describes them as "accomplices to acts of corruption and other criminal behaviour".
The complaint was filed with federal prosecutor Ann Fransen by lawyers Bernard and Brieuc Maingain on behalf of various NGOs from Katanga and four former directors of Gécamines, the Congolese state-owned mining company.
The lawyers have made it clear that the nine individuals named are not the only people they accuse of looting. In this complaint, however, they are only focusing on individuals with Belgian nationality who can be prosecuted by Belgian courts. "Other charges may soon be filed in countries where the plunderers of our resources originate," they said.
DRC president Félix Tshisekedi © BELGA PHOTO HATIM KAGHAT
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