Three Americans, one Briton, and 34 others have been sentenced to death over an attempt to overthrow the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Edum News reports.
The defendants were sentenced on Friday, who also include a Belgian, a Canadian national and several Congolese, while 14 others got acquitted.
Recall that six people were killed during the botched coup attempt led by the opposition figure Christian Malanga on 19 May that targeted the presidential palace and a close ally of President Félix Tshisekedi.
Armed men first attacked the parliamentary speaker Vital Kamerhe’s home in Kinshasa, then briefly occupied an office of the presidency, before Malanga, a US-based Congolese politician, was killed by security forces.
Malanga was shot while resisting arrest soon after live-streaming the attack on his social media, the Congolese army said.
The three Americans convicted were Malanga’s son Marcel Malanga, 21, as well as Tyler Thompson Jr and Benjamin Zalman-Polun.
A spokesperson for the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are providing consular assistance to a British man detained in DRC and are in contact with the local authorities.
“We have made representations about the use of the death penalty to the DRC at the highest levels, and we will continue to do so”.
Written by Hope James
