Congo: General Dabira sentenced to five years in prison

An officer of the Congolese army, General Norbert Dabira was on Saturday sentenced to five years in prison for threatening state security.

“The court finds Norbert Dabira guilty based on the facts against him (…) sentences him to five years in prison with a ban on exercising civil and civil rights,” said the president of the criminal court Christian Oba, at the end of the trial

General Dabira was accused of planning to recruit two snipers to shoot down president Sassou Nguesso’s plane.

The allegations were revealed in court by former Commander of the Republican Guard, General Nianga Mboula who appeared in court as a witness.

Although the ruling has been welcomed by the plaintiff, attorneys for General Dabira who described all the charges during the first hearing as lies with no evidence say they see no need to appeal.

“We are disappointed. However, we showed that this offence was not constituted because there was no evidence,” deplored Jean-Philippe Esseau, a defence lawyer.

General Dabira is the second officer sentenced in less than ten days, after the conviction of former Chief of Staff, Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko, on May 11, also for undermining the internal security of the State.

Another presidential candidate in the 2016 election, André Okombi Salissa, arrested in January 2017 for “undermining the internal security of the State”, will face trial in a yet to be announced date.