Four men have been jailed for threatening a St Albans family, and another from Caroline Springs, over a political dispute about a Congolese musician, who the men believed praised the government there.
Father of four Pierre Mwamba, 37, and his brothers, twins Tshiswaka and Mbuyi, 31, along with their cousin Mualaba Madjaga, 24, were found guilty of aggravated burglary and kidnapping in June, and were sentenced in the County Court earlier this month.
The court was told the four were members of an expatriate group called the Australian Combattants, which opposes the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
When the four found out in March, 2013, that a group of Congolese musicians, including JB Mpiana, were due to perform in Australia, they criticised the planned tour.
Alain Lombo, of Perth, then criticised the Combattants’ stance on JB Mpiana via a You Tube upload.
This angered the older Mwamba brother, who called Lombo and threatened him. The twins also called Lombo, who told them they could meet him in Melbourne.
Military uniforms
About midday on April 28, 2013, the four accused, dressed in military uniforms, intercepted the car of Lombo associate Sidney Langa as he left his wife’s home in Caroline Springs with his wife and children.
Langa then agreed to show them where Lombo lived in St Albans.
The court was told that, later, the four broke into Lombo’s unit.
Pierre and Tshiswaka Mwamba were armed with a machete and baseball bat, respectively.
They found Lombo’s wife breastfeeding her baby son and demanded to know her husband’s whereabouts, pulling her out of bed and demanding she tell her husband to “back off”.
County Court judge Justice Mark Dean said the conduct of the four “was calculated to intimidate Lombo and his family” and “silence those who actively opposed their political activities in Australia.”
“It is particularly ironic that persons who escaped persecution at the hands of their government resorted to violence of this nature to further their own political cause,” Justice Dean said. “The offending was cowardly and, in my opinion, without any justification.
“Politically motivated violence has no place in a pluralist and democratic society and it must be denounced by this court.”
Pierre, Tshiswaka, Mbuyi and Mualaba were sentenced, respectively, to 12 months’ prison, eight months, six months and six months.
