Kinshasa – A military prosecutor in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has asked the court to sentence former President Joseph Kabila to death for treason and war crimes, including murder, torture, and plotting an armed rebellion
General Lucien Rene Likulia, the country’s military auditor general, made the request on Friday during Kabila’s ongoing trial in absentia.
The former leader is accused of backing the M23 rebel group, which has captured large parts of mineral-rich eastern DRC.
Prosecutors say Kabila, who ruled DRC for nearly 20 years until 2018, supported M23 rebels and even tried to overthrow his successor, President Félix Tshisekedi. The charge sheet also links him to the January takeover of Goma, a major city seized by M23 before a ceasefire was agreed in July.
Kabila is also accused of being one of the founders of the Congo River Alliance (AFC), the political wing of M23, and of colluding with Rwanda to destabilize the government. United Nations experts have previously said Rwanda played a “critical role” in M23’s military offensive, though Kigali denies this.
Kabila, who has been living abroad since 2023—mostly in South Africa—denies the charges and has called the case “an instrument of oppression.” His party says the trial is politically motivated and aimed at silencing the opposition.
The former president briefly returned to eastern DRC in May, where he met local leaders and was seen in the presence of an M23 spokesperson. Shortly afterward, the government banned his political party and seized his assets. In May, the senate lifted his immunity from prosecution, clearing the way for this trial.
The DRC reinstated the death penalty in 2024 after decades of suspension, though no executions have been carried out yet. The demand for the death sentence against Kabila is the strongest move yet in President Tshisekedi’s campaign to crush M23 and anyone accused of aiding them.
Kabila ruled DRC from 2001 to 2018 after the assassination of his father, Laurent-Désiré Kabila. Even in exile, he remains an influential political figure and a vocal critic of Tshisekedi, calling his government a “dictatorship.”
Eastern DRC has faced decades of conflict, but fighting has escalated since M23’s resurgence in 2021, displacing hundreds of thousands of people. The government fears the rebellion could destabilize the entire region.
For now, Kabila remains abroad, and it is unclear if he will return to face the court. His trial, however, marks a dramatic turn in Congolese politics—and could reshape the country’s power dynamics for years to come.
