A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has sentenced former president Joseph Kabila to death in absentia after finding him guilty of treason and alleged complicity with the M23 rebel group.
Kabila, 54, neither appeared at the trial nor was represented in court. Prosecutors accused him of colluding with Rwanda and the M23 armed movement, which has seized control of large parts of eastern DRC. The court also cited charges of homicide, torture, and rape linked to the rebels.
Military prosecutor General Lucien Rene Likulia said Kabila sought to topple President Felix Tshisekedi’s government, allegedly plotting a coup alongside Corneille Nangaa, former electoral commission chief. Likulia pressed for the death penalty, calling Kabila the architect of the rebellion.
Kabila’s party dismissed the trial as a “political witch-hunt,” while observers suggested the ruling was designed to prevent him from mobilizing opposition within the country. His current whereabouts remain unclear since he left the DRC in 2023, though he resurfaced briefly in Goma this May, where he met religious leaders alongside an M23 spokesman.
The DRC lifted its moratorium on the death penalty last year, though no executions have taken place since.
Kabila, who came to power in 2001 after the assassination of his father Laurent-Désiré Kabila, ruled until 2019 before handing over to Tshisekedi following disputed elections. Tshisekedi has accused him of being the mastermind behind M23, while Kabila has called the current government a “dictatorship.”
What you should know
Joseph Kabila, who ruled the DRC for nearly two decades, has now been sentenced to death in absentia for alleged treason and links to the M23 rebellion.
The ruling deepens political tensions in the country as violence continues in the east, with Rwanda accused by UN experts of backing the rebel group, a claim Kigali denies.
