Julienne Mpemba from Namur, prosecuted for trafficking children from Congo to Belgium, risks 12 years in prison: "The authorities of the two countries did not do their job properly in order to verify the identity of these children", argues the defense

Julienne Mpemba, a Belgian-Congolese woman from Namur, is suspected of adoption fraud. Belgian families find themselves with a child stolen from Congo. For the defense, all organizations involved in adoption are responsible. The public prosecutor is requesting 12 years in prison.
 

The last day of the trial of Julienne Mpemba from Namur, prosecuted for adoption fraud, human trafficking, kidnapping of minors, hostage-taking, fraud, corruption as well as forgery and use of forged documents, took place this Wednesday before the criminal court of Namur.

For the civil parties, "The defendant lies compulsively." For the federal public prosecutor, the defendant knew that children had been abducted but she still sent them for adoption. He is requesting a 12-year prison sentence.

However, Julienne Mpemba has always denied the facts with which she is accused.

Poverty sensitive

This Wednesday, M e Maudoux demonstrated that his client was not the "liar" described so far. A lawyer for the Walloon Region, Julienne "has always had a sense of commitment, whether in Belgium or in Congo. She is sensitive to poverty in Congo, which is why she decided to launch a non-profit organization in 2008 to do sponsorship. The goal: to finance educational projects there."

But in 2012, the premises became an adoption centre, called Tumaini. As Julienne was, at that time, a lawyer for the Walloon Region, the managers of two approved adoption organisations (OAA) of the Wallonia-Brussels Federation trusted her and entered into a partnership with her. "Which is a very bad idea to collaborate, not with my client, but with the Congo where there is no civil status and where the country is corrupt," stresses Mr Maudoux.

The Tumaini center carried out several waves of adoptions but in 2013, a moratorium was taken by the former president of the DRC. The release of Congolese children for adoption was frozen. "My client found herself with children for longer than expected but with no income. Running an orphanage in Congo is complicated because there are no subsidies, health care is expensive... Julienne was getting into debt. The financial situation of the center deteriorated, unpaid nannies kidnapped children, the center had to move because the rent was not paid... A total fiasco," the counsel explains.

Imprisoned

Julienne then turned to the parents to whom the children were promised to ask for financial help. Some refused and, angry, sent letters to the Minister of Early Childhood.

The moratorium is lifted and adoptions are taking place again. But Julienne did not want to release the children because she had not been helped. She was imprisoned for 48 hours for hostage-taking. Faced with this reaction, her lawyer assures that she would have lost her mind.

Some time later, the federal prosecutor's office quickly revealed that at least three little girls who had arrived in Belgium in 2015 had been abducted. They had been given other identities and dates of birth.

But how did they end up at the Tumaini centre? "A certain Kitambo told my client that he wanted to offer these three children an internship with her in Kinshasa. She accepted."

But a few weeks later, Julienne learned that the three girls had parents. "With her lawyer, my client wrote to all the authorities saying that three children present in her center had been kidnapped in Gemena. After confrontations, the famous Kitambo admitted to having lied."

Hard for the civil parties

Julienne even gave €900 to her cousin so that he could give it back to Kitambo to pay for the return flights. "But her cousin kept the money. So the children did not leave," the council emphasizes.

If Julienne knew that these children were not adoptable, why were they sent to Belgium? "During her 48-hour detention, members of the Belgian embassy went to the center to take children for adoption. But they took Gemena's three children and stole them by Kitambo."

For Mr Maudoux, the sending of the wrong children is the responsibility of all the Belgian and Congolese authorities who did not do their job properly to ensure the identity of these children taken there.

Let us recall that several organizations were prosecuted but that they were acquitted.

Exceeding the reasonable time limit

Ms Maudoux returns to the testimony of Bernard Devis, general delegate for children's rights at that time: "The priority was to get the children to Belgium, we will resolve the identity problems later". Another member of an administration: "I think that the error does not come only from Julienne, but from all those who gravitated around the project".

The defense argues that the reasonable time limit was exceeded.

For the civil parties, it is difficult to hear that the only person responsible would then be the system.

Judgment on October 10.