Former DR Congo President Joseph Kabila was sentenced to death in absentia on Tuesday by a military court that convicted him of war crimes, treason, and crimes against humanity. The case stems from his alleged role in backing the AFC/M23 rebels in the counntry's volatile east. Kabila, who led Congo from 2001 to 2019, has denied wrongdoing and said the judiciary has been politicised. Lieutenant-General Joseph Mutombo Katalayi, presiding over the tribunal in Kinshasa, said Kabila was found guilty of charges that included murder, sexual assault, torture, and insurrection. Kabila did not attend the trial and was not represented by legal counsel. In applying Article 7 of the Military Penal Code, it imposes a single sentence, namely the most severe one, which is the death penalty, Katalayi said while delivering the verdict. He was also ordered to pay around $50 billion in various damages to the state and victims.
