A military court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has sentenced former President Joseph Kabila to death in absentia.

Lieutenant-General Joseph Mutombo Katalayi, who presided over the military tribunal, said on Tuesday that Kabila was convicted of various crimes including treason, crimes against humanity, murder, sexual assault, torture and insurrection.

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Kabila, who served as president from 2001 to 2019, had left the DRC in 2023 but recently visited the east of the country in an area controlled by the M23 rebel group.

There was no immediate information about Kabila’s whereabouts after the military court’s decision.

The ex-president went on trial in absentia in July for his alleged support for the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, who seized large swathes of territory in the eastern DRC this year.

Kabila had previously denounced the case against him, calling the courts “an instrument of oppression”.

More to come…