KINSHASA, Sept 30 (The African Portal) – A military court in Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday sentenced former president Joseph Kabila to death in absentia on charges of treason and war crimes, including murder, sexual assault, torture and insurrection.
Lieutenant-General Joseph Mutombo Katalayi, who presided over the tribunal in Kinshasa, said the ruling applied Article 7 of the Military Penal Code, which carries the death penalty as its only punishment.
The court also ordered Kabila to pay about $33 billion in damages to the state and to the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu, where the M23 militia has seized large areas and set up its own administrations this year.
Authorities accused Kabila of backing the Rwanda-supported M23 rebels, with President Felix Tshisekedi alleging the former leader was the “mastermind” of the armed group.
Kabila, who governed Congo from 2001 until 2019 after the assassination of his father Laurent-Desire Kabila, has denied the charges and accused Tshisekedi’s government of dictatorship.
The 53-year-old has lived mostly in exile in South Africa since leaving office, though his current whereabouts are unknown.
