The decision opens the way for the case to be examined on its merits. According to the civil parties’ statement, Semlex becomes the first Belgian company committed for trial before a Belgian criminal court over alleged international corruption.
This step is a concrete illustration of the UNIS commitment to strategic litigation as an instrument in the fight against corruption and impunity.
Nine years of investigation, six organisations as civil parties
In May 2020, 51 Congolese citizens joined proceedings before the Belgian courts as civil parties, with the support of the “Le Congo n'est pas à vendre” coalition. They were later joined by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Ligue des droits humains (LDH), UNIS, Transparency International and Transparency International Belgium, which also became civil parties.
Over close to nine years, the investigation examined banking flows, hundreds of emails and electronic messages, interviews with witnesses and suspects, and letters of request executed in the DRC and the United Arab Emirates.
What the case concerns
The case concerns the contract to produce Congolese biometric passports. According to the material reported in the file, of the $185 paid for each passport, $60 is alleged to have been paid on to LRPS Ltd, a Dubai-based company understood to be connected to a relative of former president Joseph Kabila. The arrangement is alleged to have generated close to $60 million in suspected wrongdoing.
Why this step matters to UNIS
For UNIS, this step demonstrates why the fight against corruption has to be able to draw on several instruments at once: research, documentation, citizen mobilisation, advocacy and strategic litigation.
Where alleged corruption involving the resources or interests of African populations falls within foreign jurisdictions, UNIS intends — wherever the law allows — to use the legal avenues available in order to help establish responsibility and defend the interests of the citizens concerned.
In brief
Strategic litigation at UNIS
UNIS uses the law as a tool alongside its research, its advocacy and its citizen action. Where the legal conditions are met, the organisation may join proceedings as a civil party or support cases seeking to establish responsibility for alleged corruption and financial crime affecting African populations.
Explore the “Strategic litigation and the fight against impunity” pillar
Source document
This article draws on the civil parties’ press statement of 31 August 2026, published in French.
