DR Congo ex-leader Kabila goes on trial in absentia

Democratic Republic of Congo's ex-leader Joseph Kabila. [File, Courtesy] Democratic Republic of Congo's ex-leader Joseph Kabila went on trial in absentia Friday on charges including treason over alleged support for Rwanda-backed militants, an AFP reporter at the court said. He stands accused at a military court in Kinshasa of plotting to overthrow the government of President Felix Tshisekedi. He also faces charges including homicide, torture and rape linked to the anti-government force M23, the charge sheet said. The various alleged crimes could carry a death sentence. Other charges include "taking part in an insurrection movement", "crime against the peace and safety of humanity" and "forcible occupation of the city of Goma". Kabila arrived in May in that eastern city, seized by the M23 in January before it and the government in July signed a pledge to seek a permanent ceasefire. Kabila's successor as president, Tshisekedi, has branded him the brains behind the armed group, which has seized swathes of the resource-rich Congolese east with Rwanda's help. The court opened his trial at 1020 GMT in the Gombe district of the capital. Emmanuel Shadari, secretary-general of Kabila's People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD), dismissed it as a "political trial" that he said would "divide the Congolese people" during peace negotiations. The proceeding is anything but a fair trial. With a justice system that is not independent, the conviction is already decided -- the rest is theatre, a ridiculous staging," Shadari said. Deputy Justice Minister Samuel Mbemba told reporters at the hearing: "The courts do not negotiate, they will do their work independently." Decades of armed conflict The charge sheet seen by AFP described Kabila as "one of the initiators of the Congo River Alliance", the M23's political arm. He has been accused of colluding with Rwanda to try to overthrow Tshisekedi by force. The charge sheet accused him of being responsible for atrocities committed by the movement in North and South Kivu provinces in the mineral-rich east. Rwanda denies providing military backing to the M23, but UN experts say its army played a "critical" role in the group's offensive in that region. Kabila, 54, took power following his father Laurent Kabila's assassination in 2001 and governed DRC until 2019, before leaving the country in 2023. He has branded his successor's government a "dictatorship". Kabila has rejected the case as "arbitrary" and called the courts "an instrument of oppression". The upper house of the legislature lifted his immunity as senator for life to allow his prosecution. The court on Friday heard from military prosecutor Rene-Lucien Likulia, who asked it to judge Kabila in his absence. It scheduled the next hearing for July 31. For more than three decades, eastern DRC has been ravaged by conflict between various armed groups. The unrest has intensified since the M23's resurgence in 2021. DRC lifted a moratorium on the death penalty last year but no judicial executions have been carried out since.

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