NAMUR | Trial of Julienne Mpemba, prosecuted for child trafficking: "I want to give my little girl back her story"

The trial of Julienne Mpemba continued this Friday with the civil parties before the criminal court of Namur. Parents and children who are devastated and still waiting for answers to their questions.

Stolen lives, broken families, changed destinies, voices that tremble and eyes that moisten, emotion is felt on the benches of the civil parties. This Friday, June 28, the trial of Julienne Mpemba continued before the criminal court of Namur. " I want to give my little girl back her story," says the mother of Lucie (not her real name), one of the adopted children. "She only knows the readable part of her story." Sitting next to her, the parents of Théa (not her real name) also echo the same sentiment: " Our daughter is between two identities. Our goal is for her to be able to rebuild herself, to know who she is, where she comes from." For the mother, anger is also taking over. " I am here today because I don't want any mother, any other family to go through this. I also remember the contempt of the Belgian and Congolese institutions that helped Julienne Mpemba. We knocked on every door and none of them ever opened. I would have liked to look her in the face, tell her that children are not interchangeable, that she has no respect for these children."

Since the beginning of the investigation, Julienne Mpemba has taken refuge in Congo and is still running the orphanage. "Today, it's too much. We've been in the process for 8 years just to get a judicial truth since we can't count on a minimum of frankness from her," adds Théa's father.

"Are we really going to send these children back to Congo?"

But the challenge of the trial for these torn and powerless families will be to know whether or not Julienne Mpemba will be found guilty or not. Apart from the civil claims, some lawyers are asking sometimes to recognize her guilt, sometimes to exonerate her. Because if the woman from Namur is indeed guilty, then adoption is no longer worth anything. And what future for these children who have built themselves in Belgium? " Are we going to send them back home? Where crime and violence reign? Are we going to send them back to poverty?" , intervenes the counsel for one of the families. They are uprooted, they no longer know the language. Their life, their school and their friends are here, in Belgium." And another lawyer who is a civil party adds: " I am asking that all the charges be established. For her, the children are merchandise."

For Emile, Alice, Sophie, Louise, Lucie and Théa (not their real names), represented by an ad hoc guardian or by the counsel of their adoptive parents, the criminal trial will not mark the last stage of this long journey. Some of them may never know their story. Others will have to choose between their country of origin and their host country. " My clients just want their child to be happy. 'Whatever happens, he will always be our child', that's what they say today," concludes the lawyer for Émile's parents. The boy, who has been in Belgium for 11 years, now knows that he was taken from his family.

The next hearing is scheduled for July 3, in the presence (in person and by videoconference) of the defendant.

Reminder of the facts

In November 2015, eleven Congolese children set foot on Belgian soil to be adopted by their families. But without knowing it, these youngsters, aged 2 to 5, had been taken from their families by the Belgian-Congolese Julienne Mpemba. The lawyer from Namur had given them false identities, false dates of birth and demanded money from the adoptive families. The case was revealed shortly afterwards by the federal prosecutor's office and she was arrested in 2016 in Belgium. After eight years of investigation, the trial opened before the criminal court of Namur. A total of five hearings are scheduled until January 2025. Julienne Mpemba is being prosecuted for human trafficking, adoption fraud, kidnapping of minors, hostage-taking, fraud, corruption and forgery. The Public Prosecutor's Office has already requested 12 years of imprisonment at the first hearing. Today, she still denies the facts and has always evaded justice.

Furthermore, several Belgian institutions (notably the French community) were charged with failure to assist a person in danger and acquitted of this charge by the Liège Indictment Chamber.