DR Congo’s ex-President Joseph Kabila sentenced to death in absentia

Former President Joseph Kabila was sentenced to death in absentia by a military court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The military tribunal’s presided over the military tribunal, led by Lieutenant General Joseph Mutombo Katalayi, announced on Tuesday that Kabila had been found guilty of a number of crimes, including treason, crimes against humanity, murder, sexual assault, torture, and insurrection.

Kabila, who presided over the country from 2001 to 2019, left in 2023 after making a recent visit to the M23 rebel-controlled region in the east of the nation.

The former president allegedly supported the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, who this year seized significant swathes of territory in the eastern DRC, in absentia in a trial in July.

Kabila had previously called the court system “an instrument of oppression” and previously criticized the case against him.

Following the military court’s ruling, Kabila’s whereabouts were unknown at the time.