A military tribunal in the Democratic Republic of Congo has cleared François Beya, once a powerful security advisor to President Félix Tshisekedi, of all charges related to an alleged assassination plot.
Beya, who was arrested in 2022, faced accusations of plotting to kill the president, disobeying military directives, and encouraging insubordination among soldiers. His arrest sent shockwaves through Kinshasa, given his long-standing influence in national security circles.
Having begun his career under Mobutu Sese Seko and later thriving under Joseph Kabila, Beya was a seasoned operator in Congolese intelligence. When Tshisekedi assumed power in 2019, he retained Beya as his special security advisor, granting him considerable sway over defence and intelligence affairs. Yet, his prominence reportedly fueled tensions within the president’s inner circle, where rivalries and suspicion were rife.
After a closed-door trial that dragged on for three years, the judges dismissed the prosecution’s arguments, ruling that the case was stitched together from “isolated facts taken out of context.” Instead of a conspirator, they concluded, Beya had been the target of a political scheme.
The state’s case leaned heavily on audio recordings of conversations and testimony about Beya’s criticisms of President Tshisekedi. But the court rejected these as weak and unconvincing, declaring them insufficient to prove intent or conspiracy.
Critical note:
This acquittal raises questions not only about the strength of the prosecution’s evidence but also about the political dynamics within Tshisekedi’s government. Beya’s trial appears as much about factional struggles at the highest levels of power as about genuine threats to the presidency. His release may ease tensions in some quarters, but it also exposes the fragility of trust and loyalty in Congo’s ruling elite.
