Police in DR Congo fired tear gas on Friday to break up a demonstration by several thousand supporters of powerful opposition figure Moise Katumbi as they protested against charges he hired foreign mercenaries.
The protesters were gathered outside the courthouse in the second city of Lubumbashi where Katumbi, the leading rival of President Joseph Kabila, was due to face a hearing over the controversial allegations.
Katumbi, the former governor of the mineral-rich Katanga province who has declared his intention to run for the presidency, has denounced the allegations against him as "a grotesque lie".
The wealthy owner of the Tout-Puissant Mazembe football club, three-time winner of the African Champions League, Katumbi is accused of hiring several foreign mercenaries, notably Americans, as his private guards.
An AFP reporter at the scene said police fired tear gas and beat the crowd back with truncheons, while security agents inside the courthouse were trying to eject dozens of lawyers who arrived to offer backing to Katumbi.One of the lawyers, Hubert Tshiswaka, told AFP they had come to offer free legal assistance to Katumbi "and all the other people arrested over this inquiry".
The flamboyant Katumbi had arrived at court for a third day of hearings dressed in white and visibly stressed, accompanied by his lawyers and members of his family.
Kabila is under pressure to hold elections on schedule following a controversial ruling Wednesday by the Constitutional Court enabling him to stay in office in a caretaker capacity when his mandate ends late in 2016.
Katumbi said last week he would run against Kabila in the election, originally due in November.
But there are rising concerns that Kabila, who took over Democratic Republic of Congo on his father's assassination in 2001, intends to extend his stay in power despite being constitutionally barred from running for a third term. AFP
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