Respected Congolese journalist Stanis Bujakera last night disclosed on twitter that one of the reasons opposition leader Franck Diongo was arrested by the military in Kinshasa is because his party youths were among those who welcomed Moise Katumbi to the capital recently.
Bujakera reports that Diongo was basically arrested and is in police custody without charge for associating with Katumbi.
Diongo, arrested by military intelligence on June 20, 2023, has since gone on hunger strike 10 days after being held without being granted access to his lawyers.
“The first days after his brutal arrest, he had not been heard until this Saturday and had not had access to his lawyers,” a relative of Diongo says.
According to Bujakera, Diongo was questioned for a few hours on Saturday with specific focus on two issues.
“The first issue, the security services wanted to know why he intervened for the release of a person from his neighborhood detained by a militia close to the government and the second file
what, the security services want to know why he put the young people of his MLP party at the disposal of the president of Together for the Republic @Moise Katumbi to ensure his safety during his recent stay in Kinshasa,” the tweet reads.
Diongo, like Salomon Kalonda, the special advisor to Katumbi, lawmaker Mike Mukebayi are special prisoners of President Felix Tshisekedi who is holding them with the aim of crippling the opposition.