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image captionCol Eddy Kapend was a senior officer to assassinated President Laurent Kabila
Twenty-three soldiers accused of being behind the assassination of former president of Democratic Republic of Congo have been released after spending nearly two decades behind bars.
Laurent Kabila was shot dead by a bodyguard in 2001. A military trial that followed jailed dozens of soldiers, including Col Eddy Kapend, his personal aide.
Rights groups criticised the trial.
Some in DR Congo believe the soldiers were used as scapegoats.
There has been much speculation about who gave the orders for Kabila s assassination, including suggestions that foreign powers were involved, as it came at a time when several neighbouring countries were involved in the conflict in DR Congo.
BBC
TWO men convicted over the assassination of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Laurent Kabila 20 years ago have been pardoned.
Although Mr Kabila was shot by his bodyguard, two of his senior officials, Col Eddy Kapend and Georges Leta, were implicated in the killing.
President Félix Tshisekedi commuted their death sentences last June.
The pardon comes amid a rift between Mr Tshisekedi and his predecessor, Laurent Kabila’s son Joseph.
Joseph Kabila took power after his father’s death in 2001 and ruled DR Congo for 18 years before Mr Tshisekedi won the election in December 2018.
Although it was the first peaceful transfer of power in the country in nearly 60 years, many disputed the election result. There were strong suspicions that the new president had done a backroom deal with Joseph Kabila, who still retains considerable clout in the country.
KINSHASA
The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) announced on Friday that the Cour d ordre militaire (COM - Military Order Court) had ceased to exist.
The court has been widely criticised by national and international human rights organisations. Amnesty International has reported that the court has failed to meet international fair trial standards or allow appeals to a higher or independent jurisdiction.
In a statement, Justice Minister Ngele Masudi said the mandate of the COM had expired at midnight on Thursday, 30 days following a decree signed by DRC President Joseph Kabila in mid-March 2003.
Speaking to IRIN in November 2002, Masudi said the law was part of an overall restructuring of the military judicial system.