The young man is being held on suspicion of ‘conspiracy’ against the regime”, and “works for a North American Non-Governmental Organization (NGO)”.
The Portuguese government is “hands-on monitoring” the case of a Portuguese-Belgian arrested by Russian paramilitary group Wagner in the Central African Republic, an official source told Lusa, after the country’s prosecutor’s office accused him of “conspiracy against the regime”. .
“We are monitoring the case in person and through sustenance – meaning we are providing food. Embassy number two [de Portugal] He has already met him in Kinshasa, as has the Honorary Ambassador [de Portugal] in the Central African Republic (CAR)”, a source in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MNE) told Lusa.
According to the same source, the “young man” – “has been detained, is suspected of being involved in an anti-regime conspiracy” and “works for a North American non-governmental organization (NGO),” according to the Portuguese MNE.
“We are awaiting developments in the case,” the official source concluded.
An investigation and “judiciary” was opened following the arrest on the 25th by members of the Wagner paramilitary group in Zémio, Haut-Mbomou Province, bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo (RDCongo). According to Central African State Prosecutor (MP) Benoît Narcisse Phokbio, the detainee is being investigated for allegedly “conspiracy” against the state in relation to “armed groups”.
According to the MP, in Bangui, the capital of CAR, “initial investigations” show that the detained person “was in permanent contact with several armed groups (…) with the intention of carrying out a conspiracy”. [um] Attacks against the internal security of the State and acts of incitement to hatred and incitement against the security and defense forces.
According to the MP, the man has two passports, Portuguese and Belgian – but with a Portuguese birth, according to the local press -, in which he uses the same first names, but the same surname, and presents himself. Advisor to the North American NGO” Family Health International 360 (FHI 360).
The Portuguese-Belgian consultant has also been charged with “providing evidence to subversive groups, forgery and using forgeries” and “placed in the custody of the Bangui judicial police,” the Central African MP said.
Under the pretext of working as an employee of FHI 360, the detainee collected “information about the activities of local militias” from local residents and then “gave them to the rebels fighting against these militias,” namely the Asante, the central indictment says. African Justice System.
FHI 360 confirmed to France Press that one of its “consultants working on the community development project at Jemio” has been “detained by the authorities” in CAR.
This non-profit organization has a strong presence in Africa and supports HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment programs, maternal and child care, advanced education and economic development. To this end, it works with local governments, communities and other partners to promote sustainable change.
The arrest came in the wake of an attack by Wagner’s group, backed by local Asante militias, against one of the most powerful rebel groups, the Union Four La Paix en Centerafric (UPC).
“Corbeau News Afrique”, a French-language Central African news portal, writes that the Portuguese-Belgian was arrested by Russian mercenaries because he had no identity documents. The man’s colleagues could have supplied them to the mercenaries, but did not for fear of arrest.
The Haut-Mbomou region has been under “iron and fire” for several days and according to “Corbeau News Afrique”, the repression by Wagner and Azande militias is intense. The deputy mayor of Dzema was arrested in the same circumstances as the Portuguese-Belgian officer, last Tuesday, May 28, Wagner mercenaries called Zémio Muslim traders to a meeting, then staged them accusing them of having weapons. The alleged disarmament “turned into humiliation and violence,” the publication writes.
On social media, reports of pro-Russian accounts or people close to Wagner with a photo of the arrested humanitarian worker were circulating, whose investigation revealed the man was working as a “spy for the US government.”
On Thursday, Washington imposed sanctions on two Central African companies linked to Wagner, a “Russian-backed” paramilitary group accused of “human rights and natural resource expropriation in several African countries.” Dept.
The Central African Republic, one of the poorest countries on the African continent, has suffered from a series of civil wars, coups and dictatorial regimes since its independence from France in 1960, ravaged by multi-faceted guerrilla warfare. led by insurgents or armed groups against an army supported by the mercenaries of the Russian Wagner Group or its successor, the Afrika Korps.
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