Former Congolese rebel leader Roger Lumbala went on trial in France Wednesday over atrocities committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo's bloody eastern conflict more than two decades ago.

Lumbala, 67, is accused of complicity in crimes against humanity for his role during the 1998-2003 Second Congo War, during which more than a half-dozen African nations were drawn into the globe's deadliest conflict since World War II.

As the trial started in Paris, Lumbala presented himself as a former trade minister and former lawmaker, as well as the "promoter of two television channels" in DRC.

He was arrested in France, where he owned a flat, under the principle of universal jurisdiction in December 2020 and has been held in a Paris prison since.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of

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