Kinshasa, May 21st, 2025 (CPA) – The closing arguments in the trial of Brigadier General John Mulongo Dibwe, prosecuted for desertion abroad and violation of orders, have been set for Wednesday, May 28th, by the High Military Court, after instruction, at a hearing held on Wednesday in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (CPA). ‘The High Military Court is sufficiently informed about the case. We believe that we must move on to the stage devoted to the pleadings. And so at the next hearing, on Wednesday, May 28th, the prosecution will speak first to present its case, and then it will be the defence’s turn to plead, and we will declare the debate closed and take the case under advisement for delivery of the verdict’, declared Brigadier General Jean Paulin Ntshayikolo, chairman of the panel. Théodore Ngoie, the defence lawyer, acknowledged that the chairman, as always, had been both technical and professional, but also almost academic, in the frank debate that had taken place during the investigation. ‘We pointed out that technically and legally, there is no desertion in the absence of a statement of facts. The public prosecutor himself, in the case he filed, asked the Ministry of Defense for the desertion report in order to put the case in order. This is a document that the prosecution has added to the case file’, he explained. He went on to say that they had noted that there had never been any desertion before referring to the public prosecutor, who said that he could not prepare the case for trial until there was a statement of offence, which was a material element of the offence. ‘We have also shown that the authority to which the general belongs continues to pay him to this day. What military authority would pay a deserter? So, he never deserted’, argued the defendant’s lawyer.
The defense insists that the charges against his client do not exist
Théodore Ngoy, defense lawyer
For Théodore Ngoie, the charges against his client, namely desertion abroad and violation of orders, have not been established and do not exist in law. ‘We found in the file an instruction concerning the movement that our client had made, but it is a written instruction that he allegedly violated, even though it was issued after his arrest. It was issued after his arrest, and even after his abduction, because he was abducted. So there is no violation of instructions’, he added. ‘The documents in the case file, in particular the medical certificate and the letter sent to the Minister of Defence requesting that he be placed on standby for health reasons, confirm that his superiors were aware of his state of health’, said counsel. The Military High Court replied by asking whether the letter had received a response from the competent authority. ‘As you know, those of us who work in the armed forces only receive acknowledgements of receipt. I have never received a reply to any correspondence sent to the Minister of Defence’, said Brigadier General Mulongo Dibwe. Questioning the military prosecutor’s office about additional elements that would establish the guilt of the accused, he replied that ‘it was not necessary for the desertion report to be drawn up by the commander for the offence to be established. It can be established by any public official, in any department, in any place and under any circumstances. We have reports that show very clearly that the accused is a deserter’, said the military prosecutor. Following this investigation, the Military High Court decided to refer the parties to the pleadings, once it had been sufficiently enlightened. The defendant, Brigadier General John Mulongo Dibwe, a former member of the Republican Guard and second-in-command of the military region assigned to Lubumbashi, is being prosecuted on two counts, namely desertion abroad, specifically in Zambia, and violation of orders.