Former Congolese President Joseph Kabila Sentenced to Death
- A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has convicted Joseph Kabila of treason and other charges and sentenced him to death
- The high military court in Kinshasa ruled that Kabila was guilty of war crimes and organising an insurrection with the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group
- It also ordered the ex-president 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
Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering global affairs.
Brazzaville, Congo - Former Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila has been sentenced to death.
BBC reported Kabila's conviction on Tuesday, September 30.
Source: Twitter
Death sentence for Joseph Kabila
Al Jazeera also noted the update.
The media platforms said Kabila was sentenced in absentia for war crimes and treason.
The charges concern accusations that Kabila has been supporting the M23, a rebel group who have wreaked devastation across the country's eastern region.
Also, the former African leader was found guilty of charges that included murder, sexual assault, torture and insurrection.
Lieutenant-General Joseph Mutombo Katalayi, who presided over the tribunal, said while delivering the verdict:
”In applying Article 7 of the Military Penal Code, it imposes a single sentence, namely the most severe one, which is the death penalty."
Kabila was also ordered to pay around $50 billion in various damages to the state and victims.
Legit.ng reports that the 54-year-old had lived outside of Congo in self-imposed exile but returned in April to Goma, one of the Congolese cities held by the M23 rebel group.
DR Congo’s government said Kabila, who ruled the country between 2001 and 2019, collaborated with Rwanda and the M23 rebel group that seized key cities in eastern Congo in January in a lightning assault.
Kabila has denied the allegations.
Source: Twitter
Kabila's party chieftain slams verdict
Meanwhile, leaders of Kabila’s People’s Party for Reconstruction and Democracy called the verdict “a political, unfair decision.”
Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, the party’s permanent secretary, said in an interview with The Associated Press:
“We believe that the clear intention of the dictatorship in power is to eliminate, to neutralise, a major political actor."
But for Richard Bondo, a lawyer who represented the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, he said he was “satisfied” with the court’s decision.
His words:
“Justice rendered in the name of the Congolese people gives satisfaction to its people."
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Congo coup plotters transferred
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that three Americans convicted for their involvement in a failed coup in the DR Congo in 2024 have been repatriated to the United States to serve the remainder of their jail terms.
Initially sentenced to death by a military court, their sentences were commuted to life imprisonment.
Congolese presidential spokesperson Tina Salama confirmed that Marcel Malanga Malu, Tylor Thomson, and Zalman Polun Benjamin were escorted to N'Djili International Airport in Kinshasa, complying with legal procedures.
Source: Legit.ng
