In Kinshasa, the repercussion of the former Congolese president Joseph Kabila’s trial, which is being conducted in absentia, was spectacular. General Lucien René Likulia, a representative of the public ministry, demanded the death penalty for the ex-President on Thursday, accusing him of many serious crimes ranging from “treason” to “war crimes”, and even “organizing an insurrectional movement”.

The senior magistrate asked the military court to sentence Joseph Kabila to death, coupled with a 15-year prison sentence for “conspiracy”. The former president is being judged in his absence, accused of having links with the M23/AFC rebel movement, active in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and supported by Rwanda, according to the authorities.

In his indictment, General Likulia highlighted the presence of Joseph Kabila in Goma via Rwandan territory, arguing that this passage demonstrated a “manifest collaboration” with the rebels. He also relied on testimonies from political actors and the statements of a convict to support his accusations.

According to him, the atrocities committed by the M23 in the east of the country have caused “enormous damage” to the population and involve the criminal and individual responsibility of the former head of state.

An attempt to destabilize the Tshisekedi regime

The public ministry goes further, accusing Joseph Kabila of acting “in intelligence with Rwanda” with the aim of perpetrating a coup against the regime of Félix Tshisekedi, his successor since January 2019, following a largely disputed election.

The demand for the death sentence comes as the DRC officially lifted the moratorium on capital punishment in 2024, after maintaining it since 2003. However, no execution has been carried out for more than twenty years in the country, which casts a shadow of uncertainty on the effective application of a possible sentence.

Joseph Kabila, who led the DRC from 2001 to 2019, has not yet publicly reacted to these exceptionally serious accusations.