Thirteen FARDC soldiers were sentenced Tuesday, December 31 to death for fleeing the enemy, murder and pillaging by the Butembo garrison military court, sitting in flagrante delicto proceedings, during a hearing held in the precincts of the commune of Lubero, in North Kivu, reports the Congolese Press Agency.
“Of the 23 soldiers tried in flagrante delicto proceedings, thirteen soldiers were sentenced to the death penalty for murder, pillage during the state of siege and cowardice. Four others were sentenced to terms ranging from 1 to 10 years for dissipation of war munitions, violation of instructions and simple theft. Six others are acquitted for lack of evidence and a case renewed for investigation,” pronounced the captain magistrate, the presiding judge of the Military Tribunal Byamungu Munanira, president of the Butembo garrison military tribunal.
For his part, Lieutenant Harris Kabundi Kabala, an officer of the public prosecutor’s office, revealed to the press after the verdict that it was a purely educational trial which will allow other soldiers to comply.
“We presented 23 defendants before the Butembo garrison military court as of yesterday, because as the prosecution, our role is to be able to investigate offenses and bring the presumed guilty before their natural judges. It’s been more than three decades since our country, the DRC, has been facing Rwandan aggression via the M23, and in this context there are certain soldiers on the front line who behaved badly, which is why, as the prosecution military, we wanted to restore discipline within the army that we have today referred the defendants to answer for their actions”, he said.
For its part, the defense promised to appeal.
These hearings were held about fifty kilometers from the front line between the Armed Forces of the DRC and the M23 rebels supported by Rwanda.
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