Bunia, August 7th, 2021 (CPA). – The public prosecutor requested from the Ituri garrison military court the return of thirty-one gold bars, the jeep, the scale and the telephone devices seized from the mining company Kimia Maning, in its indictment at a public hearing held by this court in the ordinary room in the case between the bodies of law, the civil parties against three defendants. He justified his indictment in favor of this mining company by the fact that it presented before the court several documents, in particular the operating license and the order of the Minister of Mines giving him the authorization to carry out its activities. However, he requested the sentence of two months of main penal servitude (SPP) and the payment of 20,000 US dollars in Congolese francs against an accused and the same penalty for the other two required to pay 2,000 US dollars in francs. Congolese for possession and illicit transport of minerals. On the other hand in the development of its pleadings, the civil party which claims to be the owner of these gold bars considered that with regard to article 84 of the mining code which stipulates that the holder of the exploitation permit has the right to transport or to be transported the mining product coming from its perimeter of exploitation the three defendants did not upset the laws of the country. For the ICCN civil party, this is not a question of mining fraud but rather of the illegal exploitation of minerals, especially since the mining activity is carried out by the company Kimia Maning in the Okapis Wildlife Reserve ( RFO) which has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996. On June 19, 2021, the three defendants mentioned in this case were apprehended by the security services in the town of Zunguluka located in the territory of Mambasa on the edge of a jeep in possession of thirty-one gold ingots to date consigned to the Central Bank of Congo (BCC) by court order, it is recalled. ACP/