Prosecutors Seek Life Imprisonment for General Philémon Yav

Military prosecutors in the Democratic Republic of Congo have asked the High Military Court to sentence General Philémon Yav Irung to life imprisonment for treason and participation in an insurrectionary movement. They made the request on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026.

Lieutenant General Lucien-René Likulia, the FARDC’s auditor general, also sought a life sentence for Yav’s co-defendant, Shauri. He asked the court to recognize mitigating circumstances while maintaining the sentence of penal servitude for life.

Yav is being tried in a case involving several officers accused of actions linked to an attempt to destabilize state institutions and an insurrectionary movement. It is the second case in which Yav has appeared before the High Military Court with his co-defendant.

In the first case, Yav was tried alongside several other FARDC officers on similar allegations. That case has already gone into deliberation, and the Military High Court is expected to announce its sentence in the coming days.

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May it please the High Military Court to find established in fact and in law the offenses of treason and participation in an insurrectionary movement brought against General Yav Irung Philémon and Shauri, his co-defendant, and to sentence them, with mitigating circumstances admitted, to penal servitude for life.