Congolese opponent Paulin Makaya still in prison

The lawyer of the Paulin Makaya, opponent of President Denis Sassou Nguesso, says his continued detention is like a political maneuver.

“He still occupies his cell at the Brazzaville prison because the prosecutor has not delivered his exit ticket,” he told AFP correspondent Yvon Eric Ibouanga.

“Keeping him in prison is like a political maneuver,” he added.

Thursday, the opponent of President Denis Sassou Nguesso had been sentenced to one year in prison for complicity in escape.

Justice ordered his release because he served his sentence.

Makaya was sentenced to two years in prison for organizing in October 2015 an unauthorized demonstration against the referendum that allowed President Sassou Nguesso to run for the presidency again in March 2016.

On Friday, thirty or so activists of the UPC, the party of Paulin Makaya, had gathered in front of the prison where they waited for his exit.

“I wrote to the Prosecutor General at the Supreme Court to demand his release, and I wrote to the Attorney General at the Court of Appeal and the Minister of Justice,” his lawyer said.