FIVE SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR DR CONGO POLITICIAN'S MURDER

September 18, 2008: three soldiers, Patrick Mwewa, Kadi Munungu and Inoki Lesene, and two civilians, Ilunga Mbayo and Manseba, were sentenced to death for the July 6th murder of Daniel Boteti, an opposition member of the Democratic Republic of Congo's parliament. Four of the five accused, including the three soldiers, all members of the Republican Guard, were present in the military tribunal in the capital Kinshasa when the decision was announced, while the fifth remains at large. Boteti was a member of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo (MLC) led by senator Jean-Pierre Bemba, who went before the International Criminal Court in July for crimes allegedly committed by his forces in Central African Republic. The court also ruled that Boteti's family should be paid $955,000 (645,735 euros) in damages. The judges acquitted four other suspects of the murder. One of the pillars of the MLC, Boteti was killed by armed men in the Macampagne district, an area controlled by the Republican Guard, when he was returning home from a wedding. The court gave five days for the men to file an appeal. Boteti's lawyers told AFP Monday that they will appeal the ruling as they believe that not all those involved in the lawmaker's murder have been brought to justice. (Sources: Agence France Presse, 22/09/2008, Amensty International)