The news of Koffi Olomide molesting his dancer has been making headlines. Reports suggest he was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment. However, some of his fans found fault in the way he was treated. They claimed everyone deserved a fair trial. Gil Ekane is one of those. Talking to BaretaNews, he wrote:
“..On July 26, 2016, BBC Africa reported that Africa popular music star, Koffi Olomide was charged with assault and battery three days after he was deported from Kenya for apparently kicking his dancer at JKIA. Sources revealed that the state prosecutor ordered the arrest of Koffi.
Police officers arrested him in his home at Kinshasa. The music star was handcuffed and put into a police car. He was then taken to a court building where a prosecutor was waiting for him.-Sources report.
Let’s be reminded that according to BBC, koffi was charged for assault, which of course is a misdemeanor in most countries. Koffi was arrested and cuffed as if he committed a felony, and had a warrant for arrest and was planning to run away.
Just hours after Koffi was arrested sources reported that he was sentenced to several months of imprisonment and taken to prison right after the court process. No, that’s not how the legal system works. What kind of speedy assault process was that? That was purely a crooked judicial process.
Now, with assault cases the victim can press charges or not press charges or better still if charges are brought against the perpetrator, the victim if present in court has to testify that he/she was assaulted. If the victim decides not to even appear in court then in most cases the court dismisses the case. Again, if the victim appears in court and testify that he or she wasn’t assaulted or that he does not want to press charges then case be dismissed as well.
Sources reveal that there was no “real trial” in Koffi’s case. A verdict was reached without any trial process. A verdict was delivered after the state attorney refused to listen from the dancer, the supposed victim. The defense counsel was given little or no time to speak. In my opinion, that’s a crooked judicial process.
As a state prosecutor, he or she can’t rely on a video that surfaced on social media to sentence Koffi to prison. To me, that’s shifty to the Congolese judicial system. That’s a shame to the Congolese judicial process. Sad enough!
Someone gets arrested for assault, which is a misdemeanour as we know, and he’s tried within minutes and sentenced within minutes. Even hardened criminals are not tried in such a speedy trial. What nonsense! In my opinion, I think there’s something more than the assault case. That said, one is tempted to say that Koffi Olomide’s case is politicised. Seems to me like the authorities in the DRC was waiting the least opportunity to trap Koffi Olomide. Seems to me like someone was waiting the least opportunity nail Koffi.
****According to reports from Kinshasa-DRC, a campaign to have Koffi Olomide arrested was started by Congressman/MP ZAKARIE BABABASWE, who had filed a petition on behalf of the Congolese public to get the musician punished for assault.
Mr Bababaswe had in a televised press conference wondered why Olomide was “still walking scot-free and yet there was video evidence that he assaulted his dancer in Kenya?”
–Note that the said congressman/MP and Olomide used to be good friends until they fell out after the musician and Cindy Le Coeur, his lead singer, were accused of belittling him in their songs–sources revealed….” he concluded.
Despite that, BaretaNews would just like to make known that no woman or man deserved any form of molestation because of their gender, or because of their strata in life. We of this platform condemned the moves from Koffi and we as well stand for a fair trial. The right to be heard and to receive a fair trial is a universal right.
God is still saying something.
