A military court in Kinshasa has sentenced former Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila to death in absentia on charges of war crimes and treason.
The ruling, delivered on Tuesday, follows the court’s findings that Kabila provided support to the M23 rebellion, a Rwanda-backed group currently controlling swathes of the mineral-rich eastern Congo.
Kikaya Bin Karubi, a longtime adviser to the former president, declined immediate comment on the verdict.
Born in 1971, Kabila rose to power in 2001 at the age of 29, following the assassination of his father, Laurent-Désiré Kabila. His ascension made him Africa’s youngest head of state at the time. He went on to rule for nearly two decades before stepping down in 2019, handing power to Felix Tshisekedi after disputed elections.
Kabila’s tenure was marred by years of armed conflict in the east, widespread human rights violations, and allegations of corruption tied to elite control of the country’s vast natural resources.
