A Congolese rapper sentenced in December to two years in prison for "
insulting the head of state
" was acquitted on appeal by a military court in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, we learned Thursday, May 12 with his lawyer.
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"
Nzanzu Muyisa Makasi was acquitted and released on Wednesday by the North Kivu military court following his appeal trial
" opened in March in Goma, the provincial capital, Patrick Mukomba told AFP.
The judges considered that "
the charges against our client were not established, which is true, because Nzanzu Muyisa Makasi only denounced the atrocities that are happening in Beni
", a territory in the east of the country in prey to violence and massacres of civilians since 2014, explained the lawyer.
'No President'
29-year-old Congolese rapper Nzanzu Muyisa Makasi was sentenced in December to two years in prison for "
insulting the head of state
".
The military justice reproached him for the formulation of the title of his song: ""
No president
"
in which he says among other things that
"
the country is not directed
"", referring to the fact that the authorities are struggling to put an end to the war in eastern DRC for 25 years, added Mukomba.
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Originally from Butembo, rapper Nzanzu Muyisa, lost his father in 2015 in Beni during an attack by rebels from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a group presented by the jihadist organization Islamic State as its branch in central Africa.
Another Congolese rapper, Delphin Katembo, alias Idengo, an army critic, sentenced to ten years in prison in another case is still in detention.
The next hearing of his appeal trial is scheduled for May 27.
