A military tribunal in the DR Congo capital Kinshasa has sentenced 15 people to between five and 10 years in prison for “financing terrorism” through the illicit gold trade.
Those found guilty are among more than 20 arrested last May in Bukavu, the main town in conflict-torn South Kivu province.
Soldiers had raided gold shops in the town, 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles) east of Kinshasa, confiscating computers, safes, dollars and the valuable yellow mineral.
It will be recalled, a year ago the government and the United Arab Emirates set up a joint venture called Primera Gold to process gold extracted by artisanal miners in South Kivu and sell it legally and openly.
Blaze Fm