Congolese musician Koffi Olomide has been sentenced to 18 months for assaulting one of his dancers at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) last week.
The musician was found guilty of the offence by a Kinshasa court yesterday.
The famed music icon was arrested early yesterday and a team of five lawyers spent the better part of the day fighting for his release; they worked round the clock to ensure Koffi did not spend a night in custody but their best efforts were thwarted as he will now be behind bars for over a year.
Koffi was arrested in his palatial home following his deportation from Kenya for kicking one of his dancers. The artiste was deported at 11.30am last Saturday. He was put on board a Kenya Airways flight following a public outcry in response to the assault that was captured on video and circulated on social media.
The much-publicised incident also led to the cancellation of a scheduled July 29 to August 1 concert in Zambia.
A source from DRC revealed that Koffi, who has a had several run-ins with law enforcers, was arrested on grounds of misbehaving and tarnishing the name of his country.
“This is to assure everybody out there that no one is above the law, not even Koffi, hence the decision by the authorities to have him locked up yesterday morning (Tuesday) without giving him a chance to defend himself,” said a source before his sentencing in the late afternoon.
Source: SDE.co.ke
