15 persons were sentenced to five to 10 years in jail by a military tribunal in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for financing terrorism through the illegal gold trade, according to a statement made by their attorneys on Thursday.
The individuals convicted were among the over 20 people detained in Bukavu, the capital of the war-torn region of South Kivu, in May of last year.
The town is located 2,000 kilometers east of Kinshasa. Soldiers had attacked gold merchants there, seizing money, safes, computers, and the precious yellow mineral.
Newsmen were informed by Pascal Amani, a spokesman for a group of lawyers defending the group, that two of the people detained—including an Indian woman—were freed, and the other nine were put on trial. Five more people were prosecuted in absentia.
The trial opened on July 25 with the military prosecutor stating that all of the accused had “masses of untraceable money” from selling gold and precious stones outside the official system.
The defence denied the allegations, noting “our clients did not work to finance terrorism”, Amani said.
On Wednesday the tribunal acquitted nine people and sentenced the five on the run to ten years in jail, the lawyer said. The other 10 received terms of five to eight years.
Amani said they would appeal. A year ago, the government and the United Arab Emirates set up a joint venture called Primera Gold to process gold extracted by artisanal miners in South Kivu and sell it legally and openly.
Experts say the illicit gold and mineral trade in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has long fuelled the dozens of armed groups that have plagued the region for decades.
Much of the trafficked minerals are thought to transit through neighbouring countries, particularly Rwanda
