Windhoek , Sept 30 ~ A high military court in Congo convicted former President Joseph Kabila of treason Tuesday for his alleged collaboration with anti-government rebels and sentenced him to death.
It was not immediately clear how the sentence could be carried out because the whereabouts of Kabila, who has been on trial in absentia since July, have been unknown since he last was seen in public in a rebel-held city earlier this year.
The court in Kinshasa ordered his immediate arrest.
The government said Kabila collaborated with Rwanda and the Rwanda-backed rebel group M23, which seized key cities in a lightning assault in January in Congo’s mineral-rich east.
Kabila has denied the allegations.
The high military court in Kinshasa ruled Tuesday that Kabila was guilty of treason, war crimes, conspiracy and organizing an insurrection together with the M23. It also ordered Kabila to pay $29 billion in damages to Congo, as well as $2 billion to the province of North Kivu and $2 billion to South Kivu.
