DRC: Death sentence upheld for eight soldiers indicted for killing two Chinese nationals

A military court in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) confirmed the death sentence pressed against eight soldiers including two top commanders for the killing of two Chinese nationals in March this year, in Irumu territory, Ituri, northeast of the central African country.

The ruling was announced by the military court of the Ituri after the defendants appealed a first ruling in the first instance, Africa News reports.

Colonels Mukalenga Tsendeko and Kayumba Sumahili and other defendants according to the court had organized and planned an attack on a convoy carrying Chinese workers in Irumu territory with the aim of stealing four gold bars and 5,600 euros carried by the victims.

They were all found guilty of “murder and criminal association”.

The two Chinese nationals and their driver were attacked on March 17 this year at Nderemi village as they were returning from a gold mining site.

The court acquitted three other soldiers, two of whom were initially sentenced to 10 years in prison, for lack of evidence.

In a separate report and court case, the country’s highest military court sentenced Lieutenant Colonel Marcel Kaligamire and two Congolese soldiers to “capital punishment” for “misappropriating wartime munitions intended for military operations.”

Four other soldiers and three civilians prosecuted in this case and sentenced to death in the first instance had their sentences reduced to 10 years in prison. Two civilians were sentenced to five years in prison.

According to the prosecution, the diverted ammunition was sold to the armed group the Cooperative for the Development of Congo (CODECO).