Congo’s prosecutor asks for the death penalty for former president

Former Democratic Republic of the Congo president Joseph Kabila arrives to meet with religious leaders at his Kinyogote residence in M23 controlled Goma, Eastern Congo, May 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

GOMA, Congo — Congo’s public prosecutor on Friday asked for the death penalty for former President Joseph Kabila, who is being tried in absentia in a treason case that includes war crimes charges related to his nearly 20-year rule of the West African nation.

Kabila, who led Congo from 2001 to 2019, has been on trial since July, charged with war crimes, murder and rape. He took office at the age of 29 — after his father and former President Laurent Kabila was assassinated — and extended his mandate by delaying elections for two years after his term ended in 2017. in 2001.

He is also accused by the Congolese government of supporting the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who have seized major cities and towns in the country’s east in the past months.

Kabila had been in self-imposed exile since 2023 until April, when he arrived in the rebel-held city of Goma following its seizure in a rapid rebel offensive.

His supporters say the trial is politically motivated. Kabila’s presidential immunity was revoked in May, which analysts at the time viewed as a step towards an eventual prosecution. His current whereabouts are unknown.

In court on Friday, Gen. Lucien René Likulia representing the prosecution also asked, in addition to the death penalty, for a 20-year-sentence for Kabila’s alleged apologetic behavior for war crimes and 15 years for conspiracy. The general did not elaborate on those charges or say what they refer to.

No date has been set for the sentencing.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi last year accused Kabila of backing the rebels and “preparing an insurrection” with them, a claim Kabila denies.

Ferdinand Kambere, a former minister under Kabila and current head of his party, the PPRD, said revoking Kabila’s immunity as senator-for-life was the start of the campaign against him.

“What we saw was truly a disgrace for the Republic,” Kambere told The Associated Press over the phone.

Henry-Pacifique Mayala, a researcher and coordinator of the Kivu Security Tracker, told the AP that the prosecution’s demands seem to be “more of a settling of scores session than a quest for truth.”

Justin Kabumba, The Associated Press