KINSHASA, July 25, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - The trial of Democratic Republic of Congo's former leader Joseph Kabila on charges including treason will open on Friday in Kinshasa, according to a court document seen by AFP on Thursday.

A military court will hear the trial of Kabila on charges including homicide, treason and torture linked to his alleged support for the M23 anti-government militia, the charge sheet said.

Other charges include "taking part in an insurrection movement", "crime against the peace and safety of humanity" and "forcible occupation of the city of Goma".

Kabila arrived in May in Goma, seized by the M23 in January before it and the government in July signed a pledge to seek a permanent ceasefire.

His successor as president, Felix Tshisekedi, accuses Kabila of being the brains behind the armed group, which has seized swathes of the resource-rich Congolese east with Rwanda's help.

Kabila, 54, took power following his father Laurent Kabila's assassination in 2001 and governed DRC until 2019, before leaving the country in 2023.

He has branded his successor's government a "dictatorship" and has been accused by a witness in the case of seeking to remove Tshisekedi from office.

Kabila has rejected the case as "arbitrary" and branded the courts "an instrument of oppression".

The upper house of the legislature lifted his immunity as senator for life to allow his prosecution.

For more than three decades, eastern DRC has been ravaged by conflict between various armed groups.

The unrest has intensified since the M23's resurgence in 2021.