currently the chair of the political party "Union des Congolais pour
le Progrès" (UPC), affiliated with the pro-Kabila plank called
"Majorité Présidentielle" (MP).
***
Legal woes of MP Adolphe Onusumba, accused of statutory rape on his
ward Ms. Mireille Owale, worsened Thursday, September 27, at the
Supreme Court of Justice.
MP Onusumba was first stripped of his parliamentary immunity and then
remanded in custody to Kinshasa infamous correctional facility of
Makala Prison.
Then on Thursday, in summing up the prosecution case, the Prosecutor
of the Republic sought a 20-year jail term, assorted with a $108 fine,
for MP Onusumba.
Ms. Mireille Owale's mother first claimed that her daughter was born
in 1995, but when pressed on the subject in cross-examination by the
defense, she changed the year of birth to 1993.
But that as it might, the prosecutor is now focused on the year 2007,
when MP Onusumba is alleged to have first raped Ms. Owale when she was
still either way a minor.
The prosecutor has dismissed altogether the disculpatory evidence of
the copy of the supposed voter's registration card of Ms. Owale
introduced by the defendant, claiming it was "fraudulently obtained."
The prosecutor was basing this dismissal on the finding of the
investigation at the electoral commission by detectives of the General
Prosecutor of the Republic's office.
The defense strategy remains unchanged: the defendant is pleading not
guilty to the charge of staturory rape as, according to MP Onusumba's
lawyers, the sexual relations only happened this year and were
initiated by the victim.
MP Onusumba told the court:
"It was I who was sexually harassed by Mireille."
The defense was set to present its closing arguments this Friday, September 28.
(With radiookapi.net & Kinshasa media)
***
PHOTO CREDITS: Via: bbc.com.uk
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