A Congolese opposition leader who unsuccessfully challenged President
Denis Sassou Nguesso at the polls has been arrested, a police source
told AFP on Tuesday.
“I can confirm 100% that Mr [Andre] Okombi Salissa has been arrested,” the source said.
Okombi Salissa, 55, had been placed under house arrest three months
after the March 2016 vote, which swept Sassou Nguesso back into power.
He then escaped and went into hiding for several months.
In December, prosecutor Andre Ngakala Oko asked Congo’s National
Assembly to lift Okombi Salissa’s parliamentary immunity, to enable the
courts to prosecute him for illegal possession of weapons of war.
Along with four other opposition figures, Okombi Salissa had sought
to stop 73-year-old Sassou Nguesso from returning to power in March.
Another candidate, General Jean-Marie Michel Mokoko, has been in
custody since June after being charged with “breaching internal state
security” and illegal possession of weapons.
Although he was minister for several portfolios under Sassou Nguesso
from 1997 to 2012, Okombi Salissa joined the opposition shortly before a
constitutional referendum in 2015.
Congo has been on edge since the referendum ended a two-term limit on
presidential mandates, allowing the head of state to extend his
three-decade grip on power.
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