DRC: Three suspects in UN experts killing escape from jail

Three suspects of the murder of two UN experts investigating mass killings in the Democratic Republic of Congo fled Prison on Monday night.

Evariste Ilunga, Kanowa Tshiaba and Mbayi Amoxi Tshikangu are on trial accused of participating in the killing of American Michael Sharp and Zaida Catalan, a Swede, in March 2017.

The U.N. investigators were probing alleged atrocities in fighting in the central Kasai region between the government and a local militia.

Trésor Kabangu, the lawyer for Ilunga and Tshiaba in the trial, which began in June 2017, said the three defendants had escaped from prison in the city of Kananga overnight, but provided no further details.

The government, the prosecutor’s office and prison officials were not immediately available for comment, but Florence Marchal, spokeswoman for the U.N. peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO) said that the suspects’ escape “shows a dysfunction in the system ... dysfunctions that need to be corrected for justice to be done”.

Ilunga has admitted at trial to having participated in the killings. It was not immediately clear whether Tshiaba and Tshikangu have confirmed or denied involvement.

More than a dozen people have been arrested in all, including an army colonel and an informant for the national intelligence service, the ANR.

The escape occurred in the early hours of Tuesday, May 7, following a burst of gunfire around Kananga prison in the Central Kasai Province.

The prison break has caused a very tense atmosphere with the overwhelming mistrust of the prisoners, according to locals.

No information has so far filtered on the actual number of detainees who have escaped.

The trial which opened in June 2017 overlapped with many contradictions that delayed its progress.

The trial which involves the prosecution of 15 persons is currently at the investigation stage. The next hearing was scheduled for May 16.