Justice at last for murdered DRC journalist?

Kinshasa - The trial of the presumed assassins of DRC journalist Bapuwa Mwamba got underway at the Kinshasa/Matete Military Tribunal. Mwamba, an independent journalist, was killed in his Kinshasa home during the night of 8 July 2006.

Four people are facing charges of "murder, illegal possession of firearms, criminal conspiracy and armed robbery". The suspects include Vungu Mbembo, an army deserter, Nkunku Makwala, Mangwene Lowayi and Suami Sambu.

At the opening of the first hearing, the presiding judge Captain Gaby Lokombi Lotomba, read the charges against the defendants, and scheduled the next hearing for 13 June 2007.

Bapuwa Mwamba was a correspondent for several Kinshasa newspapers. Three armed men, who broke into his home through the back door, killed him. He was shot at pointblank range; the bullet penetrated his left leg and he bled to death.

On 31 July 2006, at Kinshasa's provincial police headquarters, three of the four presumed assassins were introduced to the press. At the time of the arrest, several items in their possession were seized, including a loaded gun that the police claimed was the murder weapon.

Source: JED