Kenya Insights

Tag: treason

  • Former DR Congo President on Trial For Treason

    Former DR Congo President on Trial For Treason

    The treason trial of the former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila, has begun in a military court in the capital, Kinshasa.

    He also faces other charges, such as murder, linked to his alleged support for M23 rebels – who control a large part of the mineral-rich east of the country. He denies the charges and did not appear at the hearing.

    Kabila’s successor, President Félix Tshisekedi, has accused him of being the brains behind the rebels.

    The former president has rejected the case as “arbitrary” and said the courts were being used as an “instrument of oppression”.

    A ceasefire deal between the rebels and the government was agreed last week, but fighting has continued.

    Kabila had been living outside the country for two years, but arrived in the rebel-held city of Goma, in eastern DR Congo, from self-imposed exile in South Africa in May.

    Pointing to overwhelming evidence, the UN and several Western countries have accused neighbouring Rwanda of backing the M23, and sending thousands of its soldiers into DR Congo. But Kigali denies the charges, saying it is acting to stop the conflict from spilling over onto its territory.

    In May, the upper house of the legislature lifted Mr Kabila’s immunity as senator for life to allow his prosecution on charges that include treason, murder, taking part in an insurrectionist movement, and the forcible occupation of Goma.

    The 53-year-old led DR Congo for 18 years, after succeeding his father Laurent, who was shot dead in 2001. Joseph Kabila was just 29 at the time.

    He handed power to President Félix Tshisekedi following a disputed election in 2019, but they later fell out.

    In a now-deleted YouTube video released in May, Kabila lashed out at the Congolese government calling it a “dictatorship”, and said there was a “decline of democracy” in the country.

    At the time the Congolese government spokesperson, Patrick Muyaya, rejected Kabila’s allegations, saying he had “nothing to offer the country”.

    Ahead of Friday’s trial, Ferdinand Kambere – a close ally of Kabila who served in his now-banned PPRD party, accused the government of “double standards”. He said it was too soft in its peace deal but too hard on Kabila, adding that the trial was a way to exclude Kabila from the country’s politics.

    (BBC)

  • Obama Blasts ‘Bizarre’ Trump Claim of 2016 Election ‘Treason’

    Obama Blasts ‘Bizarre’ Trump Claim of 2016 Election ‘Treason’

    Donald Trump has accused Barack Obama of “treason”, claiming he plotted to sabotage his first presidency by linking him to alleged Russian election meddling.

    “They tried to steal the election,” Trump said at the White House as he claimed Obama had sought to undermine his 2016 victory over Hillary Clinton.

    A spokesman for Obama issued a rare retort, calling Trump’s attack “a weak attempt at distraction”.

    Trump was referring to a report from US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard last week that accused Obama and his national security team of a “years-long coup against President Trump” – findings that Democrats have branded false.

    Trump’s comments on Tuesday came as he faced questions from reporters about late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who killed himself in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial.

    The president’s administration has been under pressure to release more information about the well-connected convicted paedophile.

    “The witch hunt that you should be talking about is they caught President Obama absolutely cold,” Trump told reporters.

    “It’s time to go after people, Obama’s been caught directly,” he added.

    “He’s guilty. This was treason. This was every word you can think of,” Trump said.

    His comments came as he hosted Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr in the Oval Office.

    Obama spokesman Patrick Rodenbush said: “Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response.

    “But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.”

    Obama and Trump pictured in January at the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter
    Obama and Trump pictured in January at the funeral of former President Jimmy Carter

    Friday’s report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declassified emails between Obama aides, and argued they had suppressed intelligence findings that Russia had failed in probing attempts to hack US election databases.

    A declassified copy of the president’s daily briefing prepared by US security service chiefs for Obama weeks after Trump beat Clinton and dated 8 December 2016 said: “We assess that Russian and criminal actors did not impact recent US election results by conducting malicious cyber activities against election infrastructure.”

    But the FBI dissented from the findings it had initially co-authored, and a meeting was held at the White House a day later with top officials, according to the report.

    Afterwards an aide to then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper emailed intelligence chiefs asking them to create a new assessment “per the president’s request” detailing the “tools Moscow used and actions it took to influence the 2016 election”.

    Gabbard argued the emails showed evidence of a “treasonous conspiracy” to harm Trump, and she threatened to refer Obama administration officials to the justice department for prosecution.

    But Obama’s spokesman said in his statement on Tuesday: “Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes.”

    The US intelligence community published an assessment in January 2017 concluding that Russia had sought to damage Clinton’s campaign and boost Trump in the vote three months earlier.

    US officials found this effort had included Russian bot farms on social media and hacking of Democratic emails, but they ultimately concluded the impact was probably limited and did not actually change the election result.

    A 2020 bipartisan report by the Senate intelligence committee also found that Russia had tried to help Trump’s 2016 campaign.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who was a senator at the time, was among the Republicans who co-signed that report.

    The first two years of Trump’s first presidency were overshadowed by an investigation from his own justice department into whether he had conspired with Russia to sway the 2016 outcome.

    The resulting Mueller report found a lack of evidence that Trump or his campaign co-ordinated with the Kremlin, and no-one was ever charged with such crimes.

    A subsequent special counsel inquiry, the Durham report, found the original FBI probe had lacked “analytical rigor” and relied on “raw, unanalysed and uncorroborated intelligence”.