DRC: Former president Joseph Kabila sentenced to death for treason

The verdict is in for Joseph Kabila. A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday convicted the former president of treason and other charges and sentenced him to death.

The high military court in Kinshasa ruled that Kabila was guilty of treason, war crimes, conspiracy and organizing an insurrection together with the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group. It also ordered Kabila to pay $29 billion in damages to Congo, as well as $2 billion to the province of North Kivu and $2 billion to South Kivu.

The court ordered his immediate arrest.

Kabila, who has been on trial in absentia since July and whose whereabouts are unknown, was accused of treason, involvement in an insurrection movement, conspiracy, and supporting terrorism.

The prosecutor asked for the death penalty in August, a decision Kabila denounced as a political move designed to “silence the opposition.” 

The government said Kabilia had collaborated with Rwanda and the M23 rebels that seized key cities in eastern Congo in January in a lightning assault and has since occupied the cities. The former head of state, who ruled from 2001 to 2019, has denied the allegations.

In May, the country’s senate voted to repeal his immunity from prosecution, a move Kabila denounced at the time as dictatorial.

Kabila had lived outside of Congo in self-imposed exile but returned in April to Goma, one of the cities held by the rebel group. His current location is unknown.