Congolese activist Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza was arrested in Paris after trying to seize an object on display at the Louvre.
His lawyer Hakim Chergui told
The Art Newspaper
that the incident took place on Thursday, October 22.
Still according to the same source, he must appear today before the judges.
In a video posted on Twitter on Friday, we discover Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza in the wing dedicated to the Primary Arts, a statue in his arms.
“
We have come to take back what is ours.
I came to take back what was stolen, what was stolen from Africa, in the name of our people, in the name of our motherland Africa,
”he proclaims.
As someone tries to intervene, the Congolese activist replies: “
Where is your conscience?
"
Read also: Five activists tried on Wednesday for wanting to "recover" an African work at Quai-Branly
Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza is not at his first attempt.
Helped by four accomplices, he had tried to seize a funeral post at the Musée du Quai-Branly.
These five activists then denounced the “
looting of Africa
” and demanded the restitution of works taken during colonization.
Arrested on June 12 in the Parisian museum, the five defendants appeared on September 30 before the criminal court for "
attempted theft in assembly of a classified movable object
".
They risk up to ten years' imprisonment and a fine of 150,000 euros.
However, nothing to frighten their leader, the Congolese activist Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza, who continued his outbursts.
On July 30, he was arrested in Marseille after having seized, alone, an ivory object at the Museum of African, Oceanic and Amerindian arts.
On September 10, with three acolytes, this time he attempted to take a sculpture from the Congo to the Afrika Museum in Berg en Dal (Netherlands), where he was arrested and then released after eight hours in police custody.
"We
had to approach the trial (in Paris) with a fighting spirit, even if it is risky,
" Emery Mwazulu Diyabanza told AFP.
"
We had no intention of stealing this work, but we will continue until the injustice of the plundering of Africa has been repaired
."
