Radio Okapi says the Goma garrison military court, sitting in Walikale, sentenced 66 soldiers of the 3415th Regiment to death. The BBC says at least 66, and it does not name that regiment.

Sixty-six death sentences, on Radio Okapi and on Actualite.cd, and at least 66, on the BBC, are not the same count. A sergeant and ten years, on Actualite.cd and on RFI, another soldier and ten years of penal servitude, on Radio Okapi, and 10 years in prison, on the BBC, are not the same sentence line. Four acquittals are on all four pages. Fleeing FRN fighters, on the BBC, is not the military-police account RFI attributes to a local chief. A sentence pronounced by a military court is the judgment those pages describe.

Radio Okapi, published Sunday, November 8, 2026, at 08:55 and modified at 08:56, reported that the Goma garrison military court sentenced 66 soldiers of the 3415th Regiment of the FARDC to death at the end of a trial held under a flagrante delicto procedure at Walikale-Centre. It reported another soldier received ten years of penal servitude, and that four defendants were acquitted. It reported the verdict came after twelve days of hearings on facts described notably as military revolt, refusal to obey, cowardice in the face of the enemy, and dissipation of war munitions. It reported Major Dieudonné Kasereka, communications officer of the 34th military region, said the convicted soldiers had been arrested on October 20 at Ngora following incidents reported at Ntoto, in the Wanianga sector, Walikale territory. It reported the prosecution had sought the death penalty for 70 of the 71 defendants and ten years of penal servitude for a military intelligence officer, and that the court acquitted four soldiers, including the captain in charge of intelligence for the regiment. Actualite.cd, Saturday, November 7, 2026, at 11:37, reported 66 FARDC soldiers were sentenced to death by the Goma garrison military court, sitting at first instance in criminal matters, at Walikale-centre, in North Kivu province. It reported the verdict was delivered late on the evening of Friday, November 6, 2026, after a twelve-day trial. It reported Major Dieudonné Kasereka, communications officer of the 34th military region, said the defendants were prosecuted for three main offenses: cowardice, military revolt, and refusal to obey. Three main offenses, on Actualite.cd, and Radio Okapi's list that also includes dissipation of war munitions, are not the same charge line. Cowardice, on Actualite.cd, and cowardice in the face of the enemy, on Radio Okapi, are not the same phrase. It reported that at the same hearing a sergeant received the benefit of broad mitigating circumstances and was sentenced to ten years of principal penal servitude, and that four other soldiers were acquitted, among them a captain who was the intelligence chief of the 3415th Regiment. A sergeant, on Actualite.cd, and another soldier, on Radio Okapi, are not the same rank in that ten-year sentence. Principal penal servitude, on Actualite.cd, and penal servitude, on Radio Okapi, are not the same term. Flagrante delicto, on Radio Okapi, and first instance in criminal matters, on Actualite.cd, are not the same procedure line. Late on the evening of Friday, November 6, is Actualite.cd. Radio Okapi's Sunday story does not print that clock.

Actualite.cd reported all of the soldiers belonged to the 3415th Regiment, that they were arrested on October 20, 2026, at Ngora following offenses committed at Ntoto, the chief town of the Waloa Uroba grouping in the Wanianga sector, Walikale territory, that they began as 54 soldiers and were then joined by 16 others arrested in the same case, for a total of 70, and that a trial first set for ten days lasted twelve. Fifty-four plus sixteen, which that page adds to 70, and Radio Okapi's 71 defendants, are not the same total. Sixty-six death sentences, one ten-year sentence, and four acquittals add to 71. That sum is not Actualite.cd's 70. Waloa Uroba is Actualite.cd. It is not on the Radio Okapi page. The ten-day plan is Actualite.cd. It is not on the Radio Okapi page. RFI, published November 9, 2026, at 17:39, with no reporter name under the byline RFI, reported that in eastern DRC, military justice sentenced 66 Congolese army soldiers to death on Friday, November 6, at Walikale, in North Kivu province. It reported the prosecutions concerned notably cowardice before the enemy, military revolt, and refusal to obey orders. Cowardice before the enemy, on RFI, cowardice in the face of the enemy, on Radio Okapi, and cowardice, on Actualite.cd, are not the same words. It reported that, according to the Congolese army, the trial answers incidents at Ntoto, a locality in Walikale territory. It reported that, according to the local chief, on October 20 the military police tried to block soldiers coming from the front, setting off an exchange of gunfire, and that one soldier and one civilian were killed. One soldier and one civilian killed is RFI's account of what the local chief said. It is not on the Radio Okapi page or the Actualite.cd page fetched here. RFI does not print Ngora. It reported that after 12 days, the Goma garrison military court, sitting for this case at Walikale, also sentenced a sergeant to 10 years in prison, and that four other soldiers were acquitted. Ten years in prison, on RFI, and ten years of principal penal servitude, on Actualite.cd, are not the same term. RFI's page does not print the number 3415 in the Walikale verdict. It later says 58 soldiers tried at Kisangani were from the same regiment as those judged at Walikale. The same regiment, on that later sentence, is not the numeral 3415.

The BBC, by Basillioh Rukanga, on a page that said 12 hours ago and did not print an absolute clock, reported that at least 66 soldiers have been sentenced to death in the Democratic Republic of Congo for cowardice, mutiny and refusing to obey orders, local media report. At least 66, on the BBC, and 66, on Radio Okapi, on Actualite.cd, and on RFI, are not the same count. Mutiny, on the BBC, and military revolt, on the other three, are not the same word. Refusing to obey orders, on the BBC, refusal to obey, on Radio Okapi and on Actualite.cd, and refusal to obey orders, on RFI, are not the same phrase. It reported the sentences followed a trial of 71 soldiers before a military court in Walikale, in North Kivu, that four soldiers were acquitted, and that another was sentenced to 10 years in prison. A military court in Walikale, on the BBC, and the Goma garrison military court sitting at Walikale, on Radio Okapi, on Actualite.cd, and on RFI, are not the same court line. Seventy-one soldiers, on the BBC, matches Radio Okapi's 71 defendants. It does not match Actualite.cd's total of 70. The BBC does not print sergeant, 3415, Kasereka, Ngora, or Ntoto. It reported the soldiers were reportedly arrested on October 20 in Walikale, where they were accused of abandoning their positions and fleeing during clashes with FRN fighters. It describes the FRN as a rebel coalition that includes the M23 group. Abandoning positions and fleeing clashes with FRN fighters, on the BBC, and a military-police attempt to block soldiers coming from the front at Ntoto, on RFI, are not the same account. Radio Okapi and Actualite.cd do not print the FRN in the verdict stories fetched here. The BBC reported the army said the trial was intended to improve discipline among troops fighting armed groups in eastern DRC. Radio Okapi reported military authorities said the trial was part of an effort to strengthen discipline while operations against armed groups continue in the east. Actualite.cd reported the decision comes in a particularly sensitive security context in Walikale territory, where discipline among forces in the field remains an important issue. Improve discipline, on the BBC, strengthen discipline, on Radio Okapi, and discipline remains an important issue, on Actualite.cd, are not the same sentence.

RFI reported this verdict is in addition to five comparable trials it counted this year, that by its estimate 237 soldiers have been sentenced in 2026, of whom 114 received the death penalty, and that its compilation of eight trials shows at least 507 military convictions since the beginning of 2025, of which 381 were death sentences. It reported the DRC lifted in March 2024 a moratorium on executions that had been observed since 2003, and that Amnesty International had recorded no execution in the country in 2025. The BBC reported that in March 2024 the DRC lifted a 20-year moratorium on the death penalty, citing the need to remove "traitors" within the army, that the decision was widely criticised by rights groups, and that no formal executions have been carried out since the moratorium was lifted. Since 2003, on RFI, and a 20-year moratorium, on the BBC, are not the same span. No execution recorded by Amnesty International in 2025, on RFI, and no formal executions since the moratorium was lifted, on the BBC, are not the same sentence. The word traitors is on the BBC page. It is not on the RFI page fetched here. The BBC also reported that since the beginning of 2025 at least 507 soldiers have been convicted, including 381 death sentences, according to figures compiled by RFI. At least 507 soldiers have been convicted, on the BBC, and at least 507 military convictions, on RFI, are not the same noun. The BBC reported that last month another 27 soldiers were sentenced to death on similar charges of cowardice after reportedly withdrawing from the front line. That 27 is the BBC. It is not on the Radio Okapi, Actualite.cd, or RFI pages fetched here. A Reuters article reporting the Walikale sentences was not found. The BBC page places the word Reuters over a photograph captioned as the Congolese army fighting rebels for decades. That frame is not a portrait of a sentenced soldier, and it was not saved. RFI's photograph is credited to John Wessels of AFP and is captioned as a Congolese army soldier at a base near Oicha in 2018. That 2018 frame was not saved. A France 24 story on this verdict was not found. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.