KINSHASA, DR Congo: The Kinshasa prosecutor’s office told the media on Thursday that an autopsy and expert reports proved that the death of the Democratic Republic of Congo opposition politician was a suicide.
Former transport minister Cherwin Okunde, 61, disappeared on July 13 on his way to an interview at the Constitutional Court and was found in his car, riddled with bullets, on a road in Kinshasa.
An autopsy showed Okunde “died of bleeding from the wounds caused by the weapon he used,” prosecutor Edmund Issofa told reporters Thursday.
Prosecutor Firmin Mbonde Mambo said a diary found three days before his death, found during a search of Mr Okunde’s private office, had written: “I am at the end of my tether”. He added that this confirms the theory of suicide.
In response, EPR spokesman Hervé Diaquiz told the media he was outraged by the “denial of justice” and called on prosecutors to release the “autopsy report.”
The pro-democracy movement “Lucha” also said that “the conclusions of the judicial investigations… are totally scandalous and absurd”.
The former transport minister resigned as a member of the main opposition party, Moise Katumbi’s Together for the Republic (EPR) party under President Felix Shiskedi.
At the time, Katumbi announced his intention to run for president and withdrew from the ruling coalition.
Several people were arrested after Okunde’s death, including his bodyguard, who was considered the prime suspect.
Patrick Moya, the spokesman for the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the European Union condemned the killing as an assassination.
Okunde’s family said in early February that they were tired of waiting for autopsy results.
Until today, Okunde’s body has not been handed over to his family for burial.
