Twenty-five soldiers have been sentenced to death by a military court in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for fleeing fighting with M23 rebels and for theft.
On Tuesday, twenty-seven soldiers who had abandoned their positions in the villages of Keseghe and Matembe were found stealing goods in the neighboring village.
So they were arrested by the army along with 4 of their wives, who were hiding the stolen goods.
The next day, a military tribunal was set up to try them. Twenty-five of them were sentenced by the magistrate to death for theft, fleeing the enemy and violating orders.
One soldier was sentenced to 10 years in prison, while the four wives and another soldier were acquitted.
All denied the charges, with the exception of one of the 25 soldiers, who pleaded guilty.
The Congolese army, which has been fighting the Rwandan-backed M23 insurgency for over two years, is also facing further violence from militias.
These clashes have displaced some 2.7 million people in North Kivu province. Last week, the rebels advanced into strategically important territory in the face of a Congolese army that has become dysfunctional due to a lack of logistics and resources allocated to the proper functioning of the contingent.
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