Opposition Progressive Lumumbist Movement (MLP) party leader Franck Diongo has filed a criminal complaint before the Judicial Authorities in Belgium, for attempted murder by DR Congo’s Military Intelligence Agency (DEMIAP) Director General Christian Ndaywel.
Diongo was last year in June kidnapped by armed soldiers and taken to DEMIAP headquarters where he was tortured mercilessly at the order of General Ndaywel who is also a Belgian citizen.
Diongo has since had to flee the DR Congo to obtain political asylum in Belgium where he has since instituted legal action against the DEMIAP chief.
“If Mr. Diongo was recognized as a refugee by Belgium, it is because he demonstrated in a fairly simple and direct manner that in the event of his return to the DRC, his security, his freedom, even his life was in danger. This is the analysis criteria of the Commissioner General for Refugees in Belgium to recognize the refugee status of a person who flees their country,” Diongo’s lawyer Alexis Deswaef told a press conference on Tuesday.
The Belgian judicial authorities will now be expected to preside over the filed complaint which directly targets General Christian Ndaywel in view of his Belgian nationality, the lawyer has insisted.
“It is the case that Belgium can, on the basis of laws of universal jurisdiction, in certain cases, prosecute people who commit crimes abroad. This is clearly the case with Major General Christian Ndaywel,” says Mr. Deswaef.
Diongo’s legal counsel further revealed that his client had suffered inhumane torture while at the DEMIAP headquarters and recounted the brutality and life threats faced by the opposition from the Félix Tshisekedi government during the run up to the 2023 General Elections.
“The authoritarian drift of President Tshisekedi and his entourage that we experienced ahead of the elections has gradually transformed into dictatorial brutality which directly and undisguisedly targets the opponents we want to get rid of, who are political opponents or human rights defenders,” adds the lawyer.
General Ndaywel has also been cited to have had a hand in the assassination of former Transport & Communications Minister and opposition Ensemble Pour la Republique spokesman Cherubin Okende who was murdered last year.
