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A military court in Kinshasa has sentenced former Congolese President Joseph Kabila to death in absentia for treason and war crimes. The court found him guilty of conspiring with the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group, which seized major cities in a swift offensive earlier this year. Prosecutors presented testimony alleging Kabila communicated directly with rebel leaders to plot an insurrection against the government of his successor, President Felix Tshisekedi. The verdict, which Kabila’s party calls a politically motivated maneuver to eliminate a rival, also ordered him to pay a staggering $33 billion in damages to the state and eastern provinces devastated by the conflict. Meanwhile, Kabila has not been seen since April, when he appeared in the rebel-held city of Goma, which complicates any potential enforcement of the sentence.
CNN