The public prosecutor of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) formally requested the death penalty for former president Joseph Kabila on Friday during the proceedings before the High Military Court in Kinshasa.

The military auditor general, Lieutenant General Lucien René Likulia, argued before the court that the former president should face capital punishment for his role in war crimes, including homicide, rape, deportation, and torture. Additionally, prosecutors sought a 20-year sentence for condoning war crimes and 15 years for conspiracy, for his role in enabling armed violence in eastern Congo.

Kabila, who governed the country from 2001 to 2019, is being tried in absentia on charges of treason and war crimes for his alleged ties to the M23 rebel group, which has waged a long-

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