A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday sentenced ex-president Joseph Kabila to death in absentia for “treason”.
Kabila, 54, who was neither present nor represented at the trial in the capital, Kinshasa, was found guilty of complicity with the M23 anti-government armed group, which has seized swathes of the resource-rich Congolese east with Rwandan help.
He left the vast central African country in 2023 and briefly reappeared in M23-occupied Goma in the volatile east in May, causing disquiet in Kinshasa.
Observers say the death sentence aims to remove the possibility he could unite the opposition within the country, despite his exact current whereabouts being unknown.
His parliamentary immunity as a senator for life was lifted at the end of May so the trial could go ahead.
The DRC, ravaged by violence for more than three decades, lifted a moratorium on the death penalty last year but has not carried out an execution since.
Military prosecutor General Lucien Rene Likulia had demanded death for Kabila, whose party slammed the proceedings as “a political trial”.
Likulia accused the ex-leader of plotting to overthrow President Felix Tshisekedi, and further charges against him included homicide, torture and rape linked to M23.
Likulia said Kabila, in coordination with Rwanda, sought to spring a coup against Tshisekedi, notably with the help of M23 leader Corneille Nangaa.
– ‘Dictatorship’ jibe –
Kabila ruled the country between 2001 and 2019, taking power following the assassination of his father Laurent-Desire Kabila, a former rebel who toppled dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997.
On his visit to Goma in May, Kabila met local religious leaders in the presence of M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka.
Tshisekedi has branded Kabila the brains behind the armed group, while Kabila has dubbed Tshisekedi’s government a “dictatorship,” vowing to do what he could to bring it to an end.
Rwanda denies providing military backing to the M23 but UN experts say its army played a “critical” role in the group’s offensive.
A peace agreement between the Congolese and Rwandan governments was signed in June in Washington.
A declaration of principle with the M23 “in favour of a permanent ceasefire” was also signed in Qatar in July.
But violence persists on the ground and NGOs have denounced abuses against civilians, including summary executions, gang rapes, and kidnappings.
A United Nations investigation in early September found all parties to the conflict could have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Despite the capital sentence, Kabila’s arrest by the authorities currently seems unlikely.
An appeal against the High Military Court’s verdoct is still possible before the Court of Cassation, albeit only on grounds of a claim of procedural irregularities, not to review the case merits.
The presence of a multitude of armed groups and militias in the DRC’s east meanwhile continues to fuel a climate of near-permanent insecurity, besides the Kabila trial.
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