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Alert

Military court rejects requests of civil parties in Ngyke murder trial

(JED/IFEX) - During a 27 September 2006 hearing, the Kinshasa/Matete Military Court rejected all requests introduced by civil parties in the case of assassinated journalist Franck Ngyke and his wife, Hélène Mpaka.

At the beginning of the trial, the civil parties urged the Court to guarantee its independence vis-à-vis the highest military command and to send the case file back to the military prosecutor's office for further investigation. The parties also requested that political figures cited in JED's February 2006 report appear before a court hearing.

The Court deemed that it had no obligation to provide further guarantee of its independence since this was already outlined in the Constitution. The Court also reasoned that, as it had not been given the mandate to investigate the individuals cited in JED's report, it would not be appropriate to question them at this time. The judge stipulated, however, that he was not opposed to a court hearing for the individuals named, if a party holding sufficient evidence of their involvement in the Ngyke assassination were to introduce the request.

The Court also rejected, due to a lack of evidence, the defence lawyers' request to withdraw the statements of some defendants taken during the pre-trial investigation, on the grounds that the confessions were made under torture.
The next hearing is scheduled for 4 October.