Kabila assassination trial postponed

The trial of some 115 people, both military and civilian, accused of involvement in the assassination of former Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Laurent-Desire Kabila was postponed on Tuesday to 3 April by the military court, news organisations reported on Tuesday. The posponement came after defence lawyers complained that they had not been given enough time to prepare.

The lawyers said that they had only been informed of the charges their clients faced on Friday, 15 March, the day the trial began, and argued that even the 15-day suspension granted would not be enough, according to the Associated Press (AP) news agency.

"There are more than 1,000 pages to read and study and the cases are very complex," AP quoted defence lawyer Felix Hamuli as saying. "The 15 days delay we have been given is just not sufficient," he added.

Laurent Kabila was assassinated in the presidential palace in the DRC capital, Kinshasa, on 16 January 2001, apparently by his own bodyguards.

"In respect to the right to a defence, we have agreed to their request and have postponed the hearing to Wednesday, 3 April," the private Congolese news service L'Agence Presse Associee (APA) quoted General Nawele Mukongo, president of the order of the military court, as saying.

Assassination and treason were the two main charges that the majority of the accused faced, although Eddy Kapend, Kabila's former security chief, has also been charged with disorganising the office of the military staff, thus depriving the president of information, APA reported.

Kapend allegedly changed the people in charge of the late President Kabila's security and finished off the presumed assassin, when the latter had already been immobilised, the report added.

He is charged with attempting to seize power on the day of the assassination by reportedly taking over state airwaves to issue orders to the army, including directing them to close the borders, according to APA.

Kapend also stands accused of ordering the murder of five soldiers and 11 Lebanese traders (supposed accomplices in the preparation of Kabila's assassination) in Kinshasa, it added.

About a month after Kabila's murder, Kapend was arrested along with other military and government officials and members of their families. Human rights groups contend that many of the accused have been tortured during their one-year stay in custody, and that few, if any, have had access to lawyers or information on the case against them, according to AP.

Laurent Kabila took power in the DRC in May 1997 after his troops, backed by Rwanda and Uganda, ousted the government of Mobutu Sese Seko. Kabila's son, Joseph, succeeded him and remains President of the DRC.