At the opening of the debates in his trial before the Court of Cassation in Kinshasa on Wednesday, the former Minister of Justice of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Constant Mutamba claimed his innocence. He is being prosecuted for embezzlement of public funds

Ex-Minister of Justice of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Constant Mutamba appeared before the Court of Cassation. The prosecutor had obtained authorization from the National Assembly to prosecute him. At the start of the hearing, the judges rejected a defense request to have the proceedings against Mr. Mutamba dismissed, due to “non-compliance with procedure” during his indictment for the trial that began on 9 July

“I am suffering injustice, I agreed to face this trial to prove my innocence, that's why I resigned” from the government, “I did not want to flee, I did not want to seek asylum,” he said at the stand.

The ex-minister would be accused of paying the company Zion Construction SARL the sum of 19.9 million dollars without prior authorization from the government, with money from a special fund intended to compensate war victims in eastern DRC, for a project to build a prison in Kisangani (north-east) for a budget of around 40 millions of dollars.