According to sources familiar with the matter, the daughter of Jean Francois Ndeguet, the Congolese dictator’s general and chief of police, went to the courthouse in Brazzaville and got out of control as she could allegedly not find help.
According to a facebook post, she started to insult court clerks. As she disturbed public order, law enforcement officers on duty at the courthouse placed her in temporary detention.
Jailing the daughter of one of the most influential generals of the Congolese dictatorship caused panic at the courthouse as many claim she is untouchable and above the law.
While in temporary detention, Ms. Perreira also known by her maiden name as Sarah Ndeguet called her father to report the incident. Just like one would expect in a country ruled by a dictator, the latter reportedly sent over one of his police commanders to the rescue.
The police commander whose name is (captain) Omouanga got to the courthouse, threatened the court clerks, disrespected the deputy Attorney General and took Ms. Perreira out of jail as to bypass the law.
Prior to Ms. Perreira’s temporary detention, her body guard whose name was not revealed slapped a court clerk and got away with it.
Following the incident, Ms. Perreira’s husband, Mr, Perreira, called the court clerk involved in the incident over the phone to threatened him.
In a phone call recorded by the court clerk, Mr, Perreira threatened to find the court worker at his residence to settle it man to man.
“I am calling to tell you that I will find where you live and I will come to see you like a man,” mr. Perreira told the court clerk.
“As a man, I will never let anybody verbally abuse my wife to the point where she even ended up in a jail cell knowing she is got the right to use the services that are not free by the way. You are lucky I did not find you in your office. I was at your office, you are lucky you were not there. I will do everything to find where you live,” he said.
In addition to Ms. Perreira’s husband calling to threaten the clerk, another lady whose name was reported as Brigitte Okomba, called the court clerk and said ” you do not have a problem with Sarah, you have a problem with his father (the general).”
“You touched the untouchable,” she said. ” It is the general’s daughter, nobody touches her. Even the President knows it. I don’t know how you are going fix this. He (general Ndeguet) will not accept that you win this battle […] He will talk to the President (Sassou Nguesso)…”
In a country where folks believe they are above the law, the judicial system and law enforcement should do better to protect both legal workers and law enforcement agents against men and women who think Republic of the Congo is a family-owned business.
It was reported later on that Mr. Omouanga was in detention pending investigation into the incident.
In a country that pretends to respect the rule of law, any individual, regardless of their social status, who trashes any national institution should be prosecuted, judged and punished accordingly. Assaulting legal workers as well as a deputy Attorney General is a criminal offense.
Unfortunately, Ms.Perreira being the daughter of a general will likely get away with the crime. Captain Omouanga, a high ranked police officer who has no clue about the rule of law, was scapegoated.