Kinshasa, July 7th, 2026 (ACP).- A medical expertise has been ordered on Tuesday to examine and determine the approximate age of the children alleged to be minors, in the municipality of Ngaliema, in the western part of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), during the public hearing – intended to be educational – relating to the case of eighty (80) urban bandits (Kuluna). “With the identification of eighty (80) individuals, presumed guilty of Kuluna activity as presented by the Public Prosecutor’s Office at the first hearing, prior to proceeding with the substantive investigation of the case (…) having regard to the statutory order (…) having considered the application, having heard the applicants, having heard the Public Prosecutor’s Office, we hereby rule that the application of the aforementioned individuals is admissible, declare it partially well-founded, and order a medical expertise”, has declared Captain Gyu Kweshi, the presiding judge of this military court. ‘In fact, to receive them, examine them and determine the approximate age of each of them. To submit a report, taking into account the speed with which the proceedings are conducted, and to reserve the costs’, he has added.
During the hearing, after all these individuals had been identified, through their counsel, they have raised a plea of lack of jurisdiction on the part of the court sitting on the grounds that they are minors. In support of these arguments, the defence has contended that the individuals presented and identified by the Public Prosecutor’s Office are under the age of eighteen (18), in light of the evidence put forward during their identification, relying on Article 19 of the Constitution of DRC, which stipulates that no one may be removed or taken away against their will from the judge assigned to them by law, combined with the provisions of Article 114 of the Military Judicial Code, which excludes persons under the age of eighteen from the jurisdiction of military courts; such persons must, pursuant to Article 99 of the Child Protection Act—which stipulates that all such persons must be tried before their natural judges, namely the juvenile court judge—be tried before the juvenile court judge. Furthermore, the defence for all these individuals has asked the court to decline jurisdiction.
In response to these arguments, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has asked the court to dismiss the defence’s unfounded allegations on the grounds of a lack of evidence regarding the defendants’ minority status, invoking the admissibility of the application under Article 246 of the Military Judicial Code. It should be noted that all these defendants, alleged to be ‘kuluna’, are being prosecuted for criminal offences, with the next hearing scheduled for Thursday.