Congolese Soukous singer Antoine Christophe Agbepa Mumba, wisely known as Koffi Olomidé, has been convicted for holding his dancers captive.
Olomidé was earlier in 2019 accused of raping one of his dancers when she was 15 and sexually assaulting three others, but the court found him not guilty for the charges.
However, an appeal court in France found the Congolese guilty of holding the women captive between 2002 and 2006 in a villa in Paris.
The 65-year-old singer has been given an 18 months suspended sentence, paying the women compensation.
David Desgranges, a public prosecutor representing three of the women, said, “obviously the ladies will be disappointed about the sexual assault verdicts because this was the most important thing for them,” while requesting a minimum eight years sentence for the singer.
The women gave different scenes where Koffi assaulted them, from hotels to recording studios.
The court dismissed the rape and sexual assault charge based on ‘contradicting evidence’ by the accusers.
However, the appeal court found him guilty of depriving the women liberties and constantly watching them by two of his accomplices in a room with a shut blind.
Koffi Olomidé will pay a fine of 10,000-32,000 euros ($11,000-36,000) to each dancer as compensation for taking their freedom at that time.
Olomidé has been on the wrong side of the law several times, as he has been charged for several assaults between 2008 and 2018.