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Vol 66 No 23

Published 21st November 2025


Central African Republic

Hard labour

Arrested on 26 May 2024 in Zémio, in the south-east of the country, by Wagner paramilitaries, Joseph Figueira Martin was beaten and tortured before being imprisoned at Camp De Roux in Bangui for 17 months. After 17 months in detention, he was tried and, on 4 November, sentenced to 10 years’ hard labour and a fine of 50 million CFA francs (US$81,000) for undermining state security and criminal association. The Wagner militia has a clear objective in arresting this Belgian-Portuguese citizen: to limit the presence of foreign humanitarian workers in the country, and to avoid denunciations of the human rights violations it commits.

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