KINSHASA, Sept 22, 2008 (AFP) - Three soldiers and two civilians were sentenced to death Monday for the July 6 murder of Daniel Boteti, an opposition member of the Democratic Republic of Congo's parliament.

Four of the five accused -- including the three soldiers, all members of the Republican Guard -- were in the military tribunal in the DRC capital Kinshasa when the decision was announced, while the fifth remains at large.

Boteti was a member of the Movement for the Liberation of Congo led by senator Jean-Pierre Bemba, who went before the International Criminal Court in July for crimes allegedly committed by his forces in Central African Republic.