A military court in DR Congo has imposed death sentences on two suspects and two witnesses for the murder of UN radio journalist Serge Maheshe at the end of a trial that was seen to be riddled with absurdities. Two of the four people sentenced to death Tuesday were close friends of Maheshe who were with him when he was gunned down on a Bukavu street on June 13.
Two of the four persons sentenced to death, Freddy Bisimwa and Masasile Rwezangabo, were convicted of murder, while Maheshe’s friends, Serge Mohima and Alain Shamavu, were convicted of “criminal association.†The verdicts were based solely on “confessions†made by Bisimwa and Rwezangabo that they shot Maheshe at the behest of his two friends. No material evidence or motive was produced to support this claim.
Eight other defendants accused of varying degrees of involvement were either acquitted or convicted of related offences.
Two soldiers initially accused of being the killers were cleared of the murder although a witness recognised one of them by his voice and gait during the reenactment and although, as the court itself recognised, one of them deliberately destroyed the AK-47 assault rifle used in the murder, receiving a six-month sentence for “destruction of a weapon.†A civilian defendant got a six-month sentence for escaping at an early stage in the investigation.
Maheshe, who was news editor of the Bukavu office of UN-backed Radio Okapi, had said shortly before his murder that he had received threats, especially being after being briefly arrested and roughed up by two soldiers, both members of the Republican Guard (the former Presidential Guard). Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has copies of his email messages describing these incidents. The authorities have produced no evidence that these two soldiers were ever questioned.
“We never imagined that the Bukavu military tribunal would take its incoherence and denial of justice this far,†RSF said in a statement. “This insane verdict was based solely on the contradictory claims of two persons unknown to anyone, and was not supported by any material evidence or motive. Other theories were given little attention or were not investigated at all.â€
It said, “The prosecution’s scenario does not stand up, and the court itself recognised the continuing uncertainties. How under these circumstance could it impose the death penalty on defendants who were denied any chance to defend themselves properly and were denied the benefit of doubt? A new trial must be held before an independent court after a complete and thorough investigation.â€
Tuesday's verdicts and sentences have been criticised by Maheshe’s family, the lawyer representing his friends, among others.
A member of one of the convicted men's families who spoke to Journaliste en danger (JED) expressed his surprise at the verdict, since, by the tribunal's own admission, a number of details in the official version of events remained unclear and there were inconsistencies in both Bisimwa and Rwezangabo's statements. Both at the investigation stage and during the hearing, the two chief suspects confessed to the crime then later retracted their statements, exonerating Muhimbi and Muhima - also friends of Maheshe - only to return to their previous version of events later on.
JED said it was stunned by the tribunal's verdict and called for the Maheshe case to be reopened and heard before an independent tribunal. JED is also concerned that the tribunal was unable to establish a motive for those who commissioned the crime.
