The Military Court of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has sentenced a soldier from the Republican Guard (GR), Caporal Isaac Bahati Kasongo, to death after he was found guilty of fatally shooting three of his colleagues from the Military Police.
The incident occurred in the early hours of May 15, 2025, in the Kintambo Commune, Kinshasa. According to authorities, Cpl Kasongo opened fire on the officers before fleeing and taking refuge in an unfinished building. He was apprehended the next morning following a shootout with Military Police forces who had surrounded the hideout.
When captured, Cpl Kasongo—still dressed in his Republican Guard uniform—displayed visible signs of a physical altercation. His left eye was swollen shut, and he was bleeding heavily from the mouth, suggesting he had been severely beaten during or after his arrest.
Following his capture, the Military Prosecutor’s Office immediately opened a case against him. During the court session, presided over by Judge Captain Guy Kweshi, Cpl Kasongo was convicted of intentional homicide, theft of military weapons, and illegal use of those weapons.
Judge Kweshi ruled that Cpl Kasongo be sentenced to death and ordered to pay $50,000 in compensation to the families of the slain soldiers.
Born in 1992 in Bukavu, South Kivu Province, Kasongo joined the army in 2019 in Kisangani. At the time of the incident, he was serving in the 14th Regiment of the Republican Guard, an elite military unit responsible for the protection of the Head of State.
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