"The case stems from his alleged role in backing the advance of M23 rebels supported by Rwanda in DRC's volatile eastern provinces. Kabila, who led the country from 2001 to 2019, has denied wrongdoing and said the judiciary had been politicised. Lt Gen Joseph Mutombo Katalayi, presiding over the tribunal in Kinshasa, said Kabila had been found guilty of charges that included murder, sexual assault, torture and insurrection."
"Kabila was also ordered to pay about $50bn (36bn) in damages to the state and victims. Kabila did not attend the trial and was not represented by legal counsel. Neither he nor his representatives were immediately available for comment. His whereabouts were not immediately known. In applying article 7 of the military penal code,[the court] imposes a single sentence, namely the most severe one, which is the death penalty, Katalayi said while delivering the verdict."
"He has been living mostly in South Africa since 2023, but appeared in the rebel-held city of Goma in eastern DRC in May. He entered in to an awkward power-sharing deal with his successor, Felix Tshisekedi, but their relationship soon soured. As M23 rebels marched on eastern DRC's second-largest city of Bukavu in February, Tshisekedi told the Munich security conference that Kabila had sponsored the insurgency."
A military tribunal in Kinshasa convicted former president Joseph Kabila of war crimes, treason and crimes against humanity tied to alleged support for M23 rebels advancing in eastern DRC. The court found him guilty of murder, sexual assault, torture and insurrection and sentenced him to death in absentia while ordering about $50 billion in damages to the state and victims. Kabila did not attend the trial and had no legal representation; he has denied wrongdoing and called the judiciary politicised. M23 now controls much of North Kivu and South Kivu, and the conflict has killed and displaced large numbers of civilians.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]