A military court in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on Tuesday sentenced former President Joseph Kabila to death in absentia for treason.
Kabila, 54, was accused of complicity with the M23 armed group, which controls large parts of eastern Congo with alleged backing from Rwanda.
Military prosecutor General Lucien Rene Likulia told the court that Kabila plotted with Rwanda and the M23 to overthrow President Felix Tshisekedi, adding that the charges also included homicide, torture and rape.
The court verdict comes amid renewed fighting in the east and rising political tensions in Kinshasa.
Kabila, who ruled the DRC from 2001 to 2019 after the assassination of his father, Laurent-Désiré Kabila, has been outside the country since 2023. His current whereabouts remain unknown.
His party dismissed the trial as politically motivated, describing it as “a political trial” aimed at silencing him and weakening the opposition.
The DRC lifted a moratorium on the death penalty in 2023, but no executions have been carried out since then.
UN experts say Rwanda’s army has played a “critical” role in M23’s resurgence, a claim Kigali denies.
