The Court of Appeal in France has dropped sexual assault charges against Congolese music star, Koffi Olomide. The singer, who was accused of assaulting his former dancers was rather convicted of holding the women in his house against their will.
The court overturned a 2019 ruling that found him guilty of raping one of his dancers when she was 15. The Nanterre court gave him a two-year suspended sentence which the star appealed against.
The Rumba star will serve an 18-month suspended sentence and pay each of the victims a fine of $11,000- $36000.
According to David Desgranges, the Prosecution lawyer, Koffi’s accusers would obviously be disappointed about the sexual assault verdicts because for them this was the most important thing.
In 2007 and 2013, the women lodged a complaint accusing Koffi Olomide of having locked them in a pavilion in the Paris suburbs between 2002 and 2006 where he also forced them to have sex with him on a regular basis for some time.
This is not the first time Olomide is facing charges of assault. In 2018, the Zambia police ordered for his arrest after he allegedly assaulted a photographer and in 2016, he was arrested and deported after a video circulated online of him assaulting one of his dancers in Kenya.
Koffi Olomide, 65 years is one of the legendary popular musicians in Africa for his rumba and soukous music.