A court in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has sentenced seven soldiers to death for cowardice in the face of the enemy and killing.
They were found to have fled the advance of the M23 rebels, retreating through the city of Sake which resulted in the death of two men who stubbornly let go of their hands.
His lawyer plans to appeal.
Last November, three other soldiers were charged with cowardice and sentenced to death.
In DR Congo the death penalty is commuted to life imprisonment.
Fighting in the mineral-rich province of North Kivu has intensified, driving tens of thousands from their homes, despite Pope Francis’ impassioned plea for an end to the conflict when he visited the country last week.
“Seize the Democratic Republic of the Congo! The hands of Africa! Stop suffocating Africa, not the mines to be removed or the territories to be looted,” Pope Francis said at a Mass in the capital Kinshasa, which he is believed to have attended. by millions of people.
DR Congo has experienced conflict since its independence in the 1960s. Some have been driven by war to control its mineral wealth, others by ethnic rivalries.
There is public anger at the UN and East African regional forces for failing to prevent M23 rebels from seizing large swaths of North Kivu.
DR Congo, US and UN experts have accused neighboring Rwanda of supporting the rebels – a claim it denies.
Source: BBC
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