Moïse Katumbi’s defence challenges procedure before Court of Cassation
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Actualité.cd
The defence of Congolese opposition figure Moïse Katumbi is challenging the regularity of proceedings before the Court of Cassation, citing questionable summonses and a hearing held without the lawyers’ full submissions. In a letter dated 28 October, his counsel asked for the hearings to be reopened, according to Actualite.cd.
Moïse Katumbi’s lawyer, a Congolese political opponent, is challenging the regularity of proceedings against him before the Court of Cassation. In a letter sent to the court’s first president on 28 October, Me Seignior Mazaba wa Bobaka alleged irregularities at the 26 October hearing in two cases, according to Actualite.cd.
The defence says the court referred the cases for judgment without checking whether the summonses were valid or allowing the lawyers to present their observations. It also questions the status of the court clerk who issued the documents, the identity of the person who received them, and their service at an address that Katumbi no longer considers his legal residence.
The lawyer said an official document dated 2 July 2025, notifying a change of residence to Brussels, had been filed in the case. He also disputes the court’s jurisdiction under Article 82 of the Organic Law of 19 February 2013 and believes the proceedings could deprive his client of a right to appeal to a higher court.
Me Mazaba announced a request to reopen the hearings. The case pits Katumbi against his half-brother Raphaël Katebe Katoto, who has accused him since 2024 of dispossessing him of property in Haut-Katanga, including a villa in Lubumbashi and farms; the opposition figure’s entourage rejects the accusations.
