Kinshasa, May 7th, 2026 (CPA).– A sentence of life imprisonment was requested Thursday by the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) against Lieutenant-General Philémon Yav, former commander of the 3rd Defense Zone, for treason, during a hearing before the High Military Court in Kinshasa. “May it please your august court to declare established in fact and in law the offenses of treason and incitement of soldiers to commit acts contrary to duty or discipline against the defendant Lieutenant-General Philémon Yav, and to sentence him, while admitting mitigating circumstances due to his first offense, to 20 years in prison for incitement of soldiers and to life penal servitude for treason,” requested Lieutenant-General Lucien-René Likulia, magistrate of the military prosecutor’s office. He pleaded before the court for the application of Article 7 of the Military Penal Code in order to retain only one sentence, “the harshest one,” namely life penal servitude. The prosecution argued that the defendant Yav was in collusion with a foreign power by the fact that he had kept a message originating from Rwanda, a country accused of aggression against the DRC. “The statements of the late General Chirimwani are of particular importance,” said the magistrate of the military prosecutor’s office, maintaining that the latter confirmed having personally consulted in the defendant Yav’s telephone a message from Colonel Senkoko stating that “this Chirimwani is blocking our project.”
The military prosecutor during his submissions
“All the constituent elements of the offense of treason are therefore established, Mr. President, against the aforementioned defendant as provided for in Article 182.1 of the Ordinary Penal Code, Book I,” the prosecution stressed. For the coordinator of the collective of defense lawyers, the military prosecutor formulated his submissions on the basis of rumors.
“Mr. President, the submissions of the Public Prosecutor’s Office are based on rumors. The prosecuting body has transformed rumors into prosecution,” replied Me Parfait Kanyanga, lawyer for the defendant. He added that “rumors should remain in the streets and the law in the courthouse,” citing constant jurisprudence of the High Military Court. After the intervention of two defense lawyers reacting to the request of the military prosecutor’s office, the High Military Court decided to adjourn the case for one week. “We will continue with the reply and rejoinder of the parties on Tuesday, May 12th, after which the defense pleadings will follow,” declared Lieutenant-General Magistrate Joseph Mutombo Katalayi Tiende, First President of the High Military Court and presiding judge of the panel. Lieutenant-General Philémon Yav Irung, former commander of the 3rd Defense Zone, is being prosecuted for violating instructions from the hierarchy prohibiting any unit operating in the eastern part of the country from programming “Vertel” radio frequencies for communication, as well as for inciting soldiers to commit acts contrary to duty or discipline.