DRC: Joseph Kabila sentenced to death by military high court for treason and war crimes

On Tuesday, 30 September 2025, the military high court in Kinshasa sentenced former Congolese President Joseph Kabila to death, finding him guilty of treason, participation in an insurrectionary movement and war crimes. Absent from the hearing, the senator for life was also ordered to pay $33 billion in damages, including $29 billion to the Congolese state and $2 billion to each of the provinces of North Kivu.

According to the court, Kabila leads the AFC/M23 rebel coalition and, together with Corneille Nangaa and Rwanda, is orchestrating a plan to overthrow the country's institutions by force. While dismissing the seizure of his assets and the question of his nationality, the verdict marks a major judicial and political turning point, causing a national uproar.

However, the Common Front for Congo (FCC), his political family, denounced the verdict as an "illegal conviction" and saw it as an exploitation of the justice system to undermine his moral authority. For this platform, it is a frontal attack on the rule of law and a dangerous democratic setback that plunges the DRC into a zone of political and institutional uncertainty.