OMM Newsroom
A military court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has sentenced 66 soldiers to death after convicting them on three charges, including cowardice, local media reported on Sunday, according to Anadolu Agency.
The trial at Goma Garrison Military Court in North Kivu province involved more than 70 soldiers. Four were acquitted and one was sentenced to 10 years in prison, the UN’s Radio Okapi reported.
The defendants were found guilty of mutiny, disobeying orders and cowardice in the face of the enemy, the report said.
The soldiers, who belong to the Congolese army’s 3415th regiment, were reportedly arrested on Oct. 20 in Walikale territory, where they allegedly committed the offences.
The army said the trial was partly intended to strengthen discipline in the armed forces amid a security crisis in eastern Congo.
In October, a military court in the country sentenced 27 Congolese soldiers to death for cowardice after they withdrew from the frontline during fighting against AFC/M23 rebels.
The trial took place as clashes continued in eastern Congo between government forces and the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN), a rebel coalition that includes M23, according to local sources.
