DRC. TWO SOLDIERS SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER OF PRIEST

two soldiers from the Democratic Republic of Congo were sentenced to death in Kinshasa by a military tribunal for the murder of a Belgian Jesuit priest.
"The court pronounces the death sentence on soldier Marcel Lenge Mabeko, 29, for killing Rene de Haes Josef and Corporal Ntumba Mwanza, 33, for his direct participation in the murder of the Jesuit," said DRC judge captain Gaby Lokombi in his ruling. The priest had been living in Kinshasa for 10 years. He was shot on May 7 as he returned to his home in the east of the capital Kinshasa. He ran a religious centre and taught at Kinshasa university. The two were arrested in June. They had been on the run for several months after being sentenced to 20 years in an extortion case. The sentence was passed in their absence.