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Legal complaint targets family of DRC's Félix Tshisekedi for looting

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, and DRC President Felix Tshisekedi, center left, during an arrival ceremony at the Egmont Palace in Brussels, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019.   -  
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Virginia Mayo/Copyright 2019 The AP. All rights reserved

Belgium

A complaint has been filed in Brussels against nine family members of Félix Tshisekedi, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), according to La Libre on Tuesday.

The accused, who are Belgian nationals, face allegations of stealing from mines located in the provinces of Lualaba and Upper Katanga in the southern part of the country.

Those named in the complaint include Tshisekedi's sister-in-law, sons, brothers, cousins, and even the first lady of the country.

They are referred to in the complaint as "accomplices to acts of corruption and other criminal activities."

The complaint was presented to federal prosecutor Ann Fransen by lawyers Bernard and Brieuc Maingain on behalf of several NGOs from Katanga and four former directors of Gécamines, the Congolese state-owned mining company.

The lawyers clarify that the nine individuals mentioned are not the only ones they accuse of theft.

However, this complaint is focused solely on those with Belgian nationality who can be prosecuted in our legal system.

"Further charges may soon be filed in other countries where the looters of our resources are from," one of the prosecutors remarked.

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