MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th July, 2021) Former prime minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Augustin Matata Ponyo Mapon has been stripped of parliamentary immunity amid a criminal investigation launched by the country's Senate, local media report.
The Senate referred the case of embezzlement of state funds to the attorney general of the DRC Constitutional Court, Actualite reported on Tuesday.
President of DRC Senate Bahati Lukwebo said as cited by the online publication that this decision authorizes prosecution and the termination of Matata's immunities.
In June, Congo's public prosecutor Jean-Paul Mukolo accused Matata of benefiting from government compensation that he ordered to be paid to people under a law meant to reimburse foreign businessmen who had their properties seized in the 1970s. Mukolo appealed to the Senate with a demand to authorize an investigation into the embezzlement of public funds against the ex-prime minister.
Matata could face criminal charges if the allegations that he misappropriated $140 million while serving as DRC finance minister in 2011 are proved to be true.
