Kinshasa: Death penalty sought for former president Joseph Kabila for complicity with the M23
The death penalty was requested on Friday in Kinshasa against former Congolese president Joseph Kabila, tried in absentia for complicity with the M23 armed group, supported by Rwanda. General Lucien René Likulia, representing the public prosecutor’s office, asked the High Military Court to convict Mr. Kabila of war crimes, treason, and organizing an insurrectional movement, along with 15 years in prison for conspiracy.
The trial, which opened at the end of July in the absence of the accused, takes place in a context of escalating violence in eastern DRC, where M23 recently took control of Goma and Bukavu. The prosecution considers that the group’s abuses have caused significant harm to the country, holding the former head of state criminally responsible, accused of acting in coordination with Rwanda to attempt to overthrow Félix Tshisekedi’s regime.
A moratorium on the death penalty, in effect since 2003, was lifted in 2024, although no execution has yet been carried out. This trial marks an unprecedented judicial step in the political history of the DRC.
