Democratic Republic of Congo: New president frees several political prisoners, 700 others

Reuters | Congo’s new president, Felix Tshisekedi, pardoned 3 prominent political prisoners and 700 regular ones on Wednesday, state TV reported, a good will gesture signalling a break with a predecessor who had scores of his opponents jailed.

The president freed opposition figures Franck Diongo, Diomi Ndongala and Firmin Yangambi, who had been imprisoned on charges such as insurrection against the Congolese state, under former president Joseph Kabila. Diongo had been sentenced to 5 years in 2016.

Tshisekedi took over from Kabila after a December 30 election that enabled Democratic Republic of Congo’s first transfer power at the ballot box since independence in 1960.

The measures were clearly intended to signal a departure from Kabila’s 18-year rule, the latter years of which were characterized by crackdowns on political dissent.

Scores of opposition politicians and activists were arrested in 2016, the year Kabila’s legal mandate ran out and many called for him to go.

Rights groups called the charges politically motivated.

The pardons might go some way towards allaying fears that Tshisekedi is to some extent a front for Kabila’s interests.

Over a hundred more political prisoners still remain jailed in Congo, and rights groups have called for all to be released.